Unipolar distributions of junctional Myosin II identify cell stripe boundaries that drive cell intercalation throughout Drosophila axis extension

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Cite this article as: eLife 2016;5:e12094 doi: 10.7554/eLife.12094

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Abstract

Convergence and extension movements elongate tissues during development. Drosophila germ-band extension (GBE) is one example, which requires active cell rearrangements driven by Myosin II planar polarisation. A combinatorial code of Toll receptors downstream of pair-rule genes contributes to this polarization via local cell-cell interactions. We developed novel computational methods to analyse the spatiotemporal dynamics of Myosin II. We show that initial Myosin II bipolar cell polarization gives way to unipolar enrichment at parasegmental boundaries and two further boundaries within each parasegment, concomitant with a doubling of cell number as the tissue elongates. These boundaries are the primary sites of cell intercalation, behaving as mechanical barriers and providing a mechanism for how cells remain ordered during GBE. Enrichment at parasegment boundaries during GBE is independent of Wingless signaling, suggesting pair-rule gene control. We propose an updated cell-cell interaction model for Myosin II polarization that we tested in a vertex-based simulation.

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Author details

Robert J Tetley

Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Guy B Blanchard

Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Alexander G Fletcher

School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Richard J Adams

Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Bénédicte Sanson

Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

For correspondence
bs251@cam.ac.uk

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

Reviewing Editor

Ewa Paluch, University College London, United Kingdom

Publication history

Received: October 6, 2015
Accepted: May 10, 2016
Accepted Manuscript published: May 16, 2016 (version 1)
Accepted Manuscript updated: May 23, 2016 (version 2)
Version of Record published: June 21, 2016 (version 3)

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This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.