Developmental function and state transitions of a gene expression oscillator in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Gene expression oscillators can structure biological events temporally and spatially. Different biological functions benefit from distinct oscillator properties. Thus, finite developmental processes rely on oscillators that start and stop at specific times, a poorly understood behavior. Here, we have characterized a massive gene expression oscillator comprising > 3,700 genes in Caenorhabditis elegans larvae. We report that oscillations initiate in embryos, arrest transiently after hatching and in response to perturbation, and cease in adults. Experimental observation of the transitions between oscillatory and non-oscillatory states at high temporal resolution reveals an oscillator operating near a Saddle Node on Invariant Cycle (SNIC) bifurcation. These findings constrain the architecture

SUBMITTER: Meeuse MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7370751 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature