Meeting Abstract

S6.1-3  Sunday, Jan. 5 09:30  Reliability and Modularity in the Sea Urchin Gene Regulatory Network for Endomesoderm Specification SMITH, J.*; COSENTINO, C.; Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole joelsmith@mbl.edu

Development from egg to embryo is a reliable, reproducible (if not invariant) process. On the other hand, we know or at least suspect that developmental programs evolutionary flexibility built in. Studying developmental gene regulatory networks therefore allows us insight into this “tightrope between stability and change”, and the sea urchin network controlling endomesoderm which is particularly well characterized provides a foremost example. In this talk, we describe how robustness is “programmed” into the network. We also show data suggesting a layered or modular structure to the network, cosnsitent with the principle of evolution by the accretion and indicating a network feature supporting adaptability. We compare sea urchin development with that other echinoderms. Lastly, we look at how principles from the control of dynamic systems engineering can inform gene network studies, and how our biological studies might in turn contribute to concepts in control theory.