Regensburg 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 25: Cell Mechanics II
BP 25.8: Vortrag
Donnerstag, 20. März 2025, 11:45–12:00, H44
Robust mitotic events in C. elegans embryos with and without mechanical perturbations — Vincent Borne and •Matthias Weiss — Experimental Physics I, University of Bayreuth, Germany
Early embryogenesis of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans proceeds in an autonomous fashion within a protective chitin eggshell. Cell-division timing and the subsequent mechanically guided positioning of cells is virtually invariant between individuals, especially before gastrulation. By mechanically perturbing the embryo without breaking its eggshell, we have probed the limits of this stereotypical and robust developmental program. Compressing embryos to half of their native diameter frequently resulted in a loss of cytokinesis, yielding a non-natural syncytium that still allowed for multiple divisions of nuclei. The orientation of mitotic axes was strongly altered in the syncytium, but key features of division timing and spatial arrangement of nuclei remained surprisingly similar to those of unperturbed embryos in the first few division cycles. Our data suggest that few very robust mechanisms govern the progress of early embryogenesis of C. elegans.
Keywords: embryogenesis; cell division; Caenorhabditis elegans; fluorescence imaging