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SUMMARY:How to build an animal: combining cell cleavage and cell fate to u
 nderstand annelid development - Dr Mette Handberg-Thorsager\, Max Planck I
 nstitute for Cell Biology and Genetics
DTSTART:20191030T130000Z
DTEND:20191030T140000Z
UID:TALK129409@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Toby Andrews
DESCRIPTION:Animal development from an egg involves a fast increase in cel
 l number\, the designation of a specific spatial location of the cells and
  the specification of their cell fate. This is achieved following differen
 t developmental strategies\, for example the spiralian development. Charac
 teristic of the spiralian development is the spiral cleavage with its pecu
 liar twist during cell division and the early cell fate determination as a
  consequence of its fixed development and cell lineages (as in the nematod
 e C. elegans). The spiralians are therefore interesting models for underst
 anding cell division mechanisms and for understanding the cellular and mol
 ecular mechanisms underlying the differentiation of cells and tissues. How
 ever\, although close to half of the animal phyla follow a spiralian devel
 opment\, little is known about the cellular mechanisms and behavior underl
 ying this developmental strategy. To approach these questions\, we use the
  spiralian annelid Platynereis dumerilii. This marine worm has a transpare
 nt embryo\, a swimming larva with relatively few cells (~700 cells) and is
  amenable for laboratory and molecular biology techniques.\n\nIn the talk\
 , I will present our research on two aspects of the spiralian development.
  First\, which are the cellular mechanisms relevant during the early cleav
 ages (the spiral cleavage) and thus important for correct cell positioning
 ? Second\, which are the cellular and molecular trajectories in the differ
 entiation of cell types and tissues? To study the first topic\, we fluores
 cently label cells and cellular compartments during the early development 
 of P. dumerilii\, we monitor the cellular dynamics by live-imaging using s
 pinning disk confocal microscopy and perform quantitative measurements of 
 the cortical flows occurring during cell division. We show that the cortic
 al actomyosin is a main driver of the spiral cleavage. For our second rese
 arch topic\, we first perform whole-embryo live-imaging of the developingP
 . dumerilii by light-sheet microscopy. With these recordings\, we generate
  the complete developmental cell lineage of the swimming larva. This infor
 mation has led to multiple insights\, for example\, the detection of left-
 right body asymmetries at the cellular level during the formation of the t
 runk neuroectoderm. We are currently aligning gene expression patterns fro
 m fixed embryos onto the cell lineages to describe the molecular trajector
 ies underlying the specification and differentiation of cell types and tis
 sues during development.\n\nTo sum up\, our research describes the first w
 hole-embryo analysis at cellular resolution of the development of a spiral
 ian larva. With our approaches\, we gain insights into the molecular and c
 ellular trajectories and the underlying cellular and biophysical mechanism
 s involved in the formation of a spiralian larva. 
LOCATION:Part II Lecture Theatre\, Department of Zoology
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