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Abstract --- Maria G. Samsonova, Department of Computational Biology, St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University, RussiaAnalysis of morphome information To characterize the development in the morphogenetic field controlling Drosophila segmentation we take a systems biology approach by combining high-precision assay of gene expression with statistical analysis and mathematical modeling [1-3]. For several years we have worked at testing the hypothesis that segmental architecture is determined by a regulatory cascade of transcription factors expressed from segmentation genes. This hypothesis is assumed to be true by Drosophila research community, and is consonant with the results of our own earlier work [3,4]. However, recently the generality of this idea has been called into a question by a study [5] demonstrating that the accuracy of segment determination may not directly controlled by the regulatory cascade of segmentation genes. This result is itself a special instance of a general phenomenon, evident in our own data, in which highly variable early expression patterns become extremely uniform across embryos when the time of critical determination events arrives. In this talk I will discuss the mechanism and precision of pattern formation, as well as buffering mechanisms compensating for variation in segmentation gene expression. References: 1. E. Myasnikova, A. Samsonova, K. Kozlov, M. Samsonova, and J. Reinitz (2001a). Registration of the expression patterns of Drosophila segmentation genes by two independent methods. Bioinformatics, 17:3-12. 2. E. Myasnikova, A. Samsonova, M. Samsonova, and J. Reinitz (2002). Support vector regression applied to the determination of the developmental age of a Drosophila embryo from its segmentation gene expression patterns. Bioinformatics, 18 Suppl1:S87-S95. 3. J. Jaeger, S. Surkova, M. Blagov, H. Janssens, D. Kosman, K. N. Kozlov, Manu, E. Myasnikova, C. E. Vanario-Alonso, M. Samsonova, D. H. Sharp, and J. Reinitz (2004a). Dynamic control of positional information in the early Drosophila embryo. Nature, 430:368- 371. 4. J. Jaeger, M. Blagov, D. Kosman, K N. Kozlov, Manu, E. Myasnikova, S. Surkova, C E. Vanario-Alonso, M. Samsonova, D H. Sharp, and J. Reinitz (2004b). Dynamical analysis of regulatory interactions in the gap gene system of Drosophila melanogaster. Genetics, 167:1721-1737. 5. B. Houchmandzadeh, E. Wieschaus, and S. Leibler (2002). Establishment of developmental precision and proportions in the early drosophila embryo. Nature, 415:798-802 |