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First published online 29 April 2009
doi: 10.1242/dev.030866

Development 136, 1889-1898 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
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Mechanical control of global cell behaviour during dorsal closure in Drosophila

Nicole Gorfinkiel1,*, Guy B. Blanchard2, Richard J. Adams2 and Alfonso Martinez Arias1

1 Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK.
2 Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK.

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: ng288{at}hermes.cam.ac.uk)

Accepted 31 March 2009

Halfway through embryonic development, the epidermis of Drosophila exhibits a gap at the dorsal side covered by an extraembryonic epithelium, the amnioserosa (AS). Dorsal closure (DC) is the process whereby interactions between the two epithelia establish epidermal continuity. Although genetic and biomechanical analysis have identified the AS as a force-generating tissue, we do not know how individual cell behaviours are transformed into tissue movements. To approach this question we have applied a novel image-analysis method to measure strain rates in local domains of cells and performed a kinematic analysis of DC. Our study reveals spatial and temporal differences in the rate of apical constriction of AS cells. We find a slow phase of DC, during which apical contraction of cells at the posterior end predominates, and a subsequent fast phase, during which all the cells engage in the contraction, which correlates with the zippering process. There is a radial gradient of AS apical contraction, with marginal cells contracting earlier than more centrally located cells. We have applied this analysis to the study of mutant situations and associated a particular genotype with quantitative and reproducible changes in the rate of cell contraction and hence in the overall rate of the process. Our mutant analysis reveals the contribution of mechanical elements to the rate and pattern of DC.

Key words: Apical contraction, Forces, Kinematic, Morphogenesis


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Straining to reach (dorsal) closure

Development 2009 136: e1102. [Full Text]  





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