Mechanics of epithelial tissue formation

A key process in the life of any multicellular organism is its development from a single egg into a full grown adult. The first step in this process often consists of forming a tissue layer out of randomly placed cells on the surface of the egg. We present a model for generating such a tissue, based on mechanical interactions between the cells, and find that the resulting cellular pattern corresponds to the Voronoi tessellation of the nuclei of the cells. Experimentally, we obtain the same result in both fruit flies and flour beetles, with a distribution of cell shapes that matches that of the model, without any adjustable parameters. Finally, we show that this pattern is broken when the cells grow at different rates.Animal science

Mechanical and genetics basis of cellularization and serosal window closure in Tribolium castaneum

The applications of studying the early development of insects range from agriculture to material science. In agriculture creating new kinds of pesticides and in material science making new materials that avoid desiccation. After Drosophila melanogaster, Tribolium castaneum is becoming the most used insect in developmental biology because Tribolium’s development is more representative to the rest of the insects’ development than Drosophila’s. In this thesis the early development of Tribolium is studied, specifically cellularization and serosal window closure. Cellularization is the formation of the cells. We discovered that the mechanical interaction between cells leads to the formation of a Voronoi tilling in the cells’ arrangement. Furthermore, we studied the genetics of cellularization by silencing genes related to junction proteins. We found that Innexin 7 protein is central to finish the process of cellularization. Serosal window closure is the first cell rearrangement to create a cover for the embryo. We looked for proteins involved in serosal window closure. We found that protein Laminin α1,2, β and γ is a key cell component in the process of serosal window closure. In conclusion, during development there are physical and genetics factors acting at the same time.</p

Mechanical and genetics basis of cellularization and serosal window closure in Tribolium castaneum

The applications of studying the early development of insects range from agriculture to material science. In agriculture creating new kinds of pesticides and in material science making new materials that avoid desiccation. After Drosophila melanogaster, Tribolium castaneum is becoming the most used insect in developmental biology because Tribolium’s development is more representative to the rest of the insects’ development than Drosophila’s. In this thesis the early development of Tribolium is studied, specifically cellularization and serosal window closure. Cellularization is the formation of the cells. We discovered that the mechanical interaction between cells leads to the formation of a Voronoi tilling in the cells’ arrangement. Furthermore, we studied the genetics of cellularization by silencing genes related to junction proteins. We found that Innexin 7 protein is central to finish the process of cellularization. Serosal window closure is the first cell rearrangement to create a cover for the embryo. We looked for proteins involved in serosal window closure. We found that protein Laminin α1,2, β and γ is a key cell component in the process of serosal window closure. In conclusion, during development there are physical and genetics factors acting at the same time.Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT), MexicoAnimal science

Innexin7a forms junctions that stabilize the basal membrane during cellularization of the blastoderm in Tribolium castaneum

Animal science