Rectification of planar orientation angle switches behavior and replenishes contractile junctions.

ABSTRACT: In the early Drosophila embryo, germband elongation is driven by oriented cell intercalation through t1 transitions, where vertical (dorsal-ventral aligned) interfaces contract and then resolve into new horizontal (anterior-posterior aligned) interfaces. Here, we show that contractile events produce a continuous "rectification" of cell interfaces, in which interfaces systematically rotate toward more vertical orientations. As interfaces rotate, their behavior transitions from elongating to contractile regimes, indicating that the planar polarized identities of cell-cell interfaces are continuously re-interpreted in time depending on their orientation angle. Rotating interfaces acquire higher levels of Myosin II motor proteins as they become more vertical, while disruptions to the contracti

SUBMITTER: Linvill K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11756375 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature