Jessica Sawyer

3 weeks ago | biorxiv.org | Xin Li |Robert J. Huebner |Margot Williams |Jessica Sawyer

AbstractCells undergo dramatic morphological changes during embryogenesis, yet how these changes affect the formation of ordered tissues remains elusive. Here, we show that a phase transition leading to the formation of a nematic liquid crystal state during gastrulation in the development of embryos of fish, frogs, and fruit flies occurs by a common mechanism despite substantial differences between these evolutionarily distant animals.