Quantitative perturbation-phenotype maps reveal nonlinear responses underlying robustness of PAR-dependent asymmetric cell division.

ABSTRACT: A key challenge in the development of an organism is to maintain robust phenotypic outcomes in the face of perturbation. Yet, it is often unclear how such robust outcomes are encoded by developmental networks. Here, we use the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote as a model to understand sources of developmental robustness during PAR polarity-dependent asymmetric cell division. By quantitatively linking alterations in protein dosage to phenotype in individual embryos, we show that spatial information in the zygote is read out in a highly nonlinear fashion and, as a result, phenotypes are highly canalized against substantial variation in input signals. Our data point towards robustness of the conserved PAR polarity network that renders polarity axis specification resistant to variations in both th

SUBMITTER: Rodrigues NTL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11627365 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature