Submerged by 4-way junctions: how the early embryo of the brown alga Saccharina e-copes

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• Bénédicte Charrier
• Monday 31 October 2022, 14:30-15:30
• Online.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Elena Scarpa.

Saccharina is a brown marine alga (kelp) that develops a pear-shaped monolayered cell sheet during embryogenesis. Notably, this shape is maintained throughout embryogenesis and, within the sheet, the cells are cuboids arranged in a grid, resulting in the so-called 4-way junctions pattern. Interestingly, this tissue pattern has been described as rare and unstable in land plants (Thompson, 1942; Lloyd, 1991) whereas it is commonly observed in kelp embryos  (Sauvageau, 1918).

Using a 2D-vertex mechanical model, we have studied the cellular parameters that underlie the formation of this grid during growth, while maintaining the initial shape of the embryo. I will show the extent to which Saccharina must control these parameters, especially under stochastic conditions aimed to reflect real-life fluctuations in cell turgor and in cell division time, position and orientation. In particular, I will assess the extent to which this model can account for the diversity of shapes observed in living algal embryos.

This talk is part of the Morphogenesis Seminar Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Graduate-Seminars
• Morphogenesis Seminar Series
• Online

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