Rho1 activation recapitulates early gastrulation events in the ventral, but not dorsal, epithelium of Drosophila embryos.

Ashley Rich,Richard G Fehon,Michael Glotzer

doi:10.7554/elife.56893

Abstract

Ventral furrow formation, the first step in Drosophila gastrulation, is a well-studied example of tissue morphogenesis. Rho1 is highly active in a subset of ventral cells and is required for this morphogenetic event. However, it is unclear whether spatially patterned Rho1 activity alone is sufficient to recapitulate all aspects of this morphogenetic event, including anisotropic apical constriction and coordinated cell movements. Here, using an optogenetic probe that rapidly and robustly activates Rho1 in Drosophila tissues, we show that Rho1 activity induces ectopic deformations in the dorsal and ventral epithelia of Drosophila embryos. These perturbations reveal substantial differences in how ventral and dorsal cells, both within and outside the zone of Rho1 activation, respond to spatially and temporally identical patterns of Rho1 activation. Our results demonstrate that an asymmetric zone of Rho1 activity is not sufficient to recapitulate ventral furrow formation and reveal that additional, ventral-specific factors contribute to the cell- and tissue-level behaviors that emerge during ventral furrow formation.

Highlights

23 Tissue morphogenesis underlies the development of multicellular organisms
The inactivation rate of our optogenetic probe, we introduced a previously identified point mutation, I427V, into the LOV domain, which increases the rate at which the LOV domain returns to the dark state (Christie et al, 2007)
In summary, this work shows that, despite inducing ectopic deformations, Rho[1] activation alone is not sufficient to recapitulate the cell- and tissue-level behaviors observed during ventral furrow formation

Summary

Introduction

Tissue morphogenesis underlies the development of multicellular organisms. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that govern tissue morphogenesis remain a central challenge in developmental25 cell biology. 23 Tissue morphogenesis underlies the development of multicellular organisms. The molecular and 24 cellular mechanisms that govern tissue morphogenesis remain a central challenge in developmental. Extensive genetic and biochemical experiments have defined the factors required for 26 many morphogenetic movements. 28 how pliable are tissues before and while they are deforming? 28 how pliable are tissues before and while they are deforming? To what degree does the underlying

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