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Originally published in Science Express on 16 August 2007
Science 28 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5846, pp. 1911 - 1915
DOI: 10.1126/science.1142538
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Reports

Synchrony Dynamics During Initiation, Failure, and Rescue of the Segmentation Clock

Ingmar H. Riedel-Kruse,*{dagger} Claudia Müller, Andrew C. Oates{dagger}

The "segmentation clock" is thought to coordinate sequential segmentation of the body axis in vertebrate embryos. This clock comprises a multicellular genetic network of synchronized oscillators, coupled by intercellular Delta-Notch signaling. How this synchrony is established and how its loss determines the position of segmentation defects in Delta and Notch mutants are unknown. We analyzed the clock's synchrony dynamics by varying strength and timing of Notch coupling in zebra-fish embryos with techniques for quantitative perturbation of gene function. We developed a physical theory based on coupled phase oscillators explaining the observed onset and rescue of segmentation defects, the clock's robustness against developmental noise, and a critical point beyond which synchrony decays. We conclude that synchrony among these genetic oscillators can be established by simultaneous initiation and self-organization and that the segmentation defect position is determined by the difference between coupling strength and noise.

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.

* Present address: Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, MC 139-74, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ingmar{at}caltech.edu (I.H.R.-K.); oates{at}mpi-cbg.de (A.C.O.)

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