Shaping the scaling characteristics of gap gene expression patterns in Drosophila

How patterns are formed to scale with tissue size remains an unresolved problem. Here we investigate embryonic patterns of gap gene expression along the anterior-posterior (AP) axis in Drosophila. We use embryos that greatly differ in length and, importantly, possess distinct length -scaling characteristics of the Bicoid (Bcd) gradient. We systematically analyze the dynamic movements of gap gene expression boundaries in relation to both embryo length and Bcd input as a function of time. We document the process through which such dynamic movements drive both an emergence of a global scaling landscape and evolution of boundary-specific scaling charac-teristics. We show that, despite initial differences in pattern scaling characteristics that mimic those of Bcd in the anterior, such characteristics of final patterns converge. Our study thus par-titions the contributions of Bcd input and regulatory dynamics inherent to the AP patterning network in shaping embryonic pattern's scaling characteristics.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigate the formation of patterns in the embryo of Drosophila along the anterior-posterior axis. By analyzing the dynamic movements of gap gene expression boundaries in relation to embryo length and the Bicoid gradient, we observe the emergence of a global scaling landscape and convergence of pattern scaling characteristics. We demonstrate the contributions of Bicoid input and regulatory dynamics in shaping the embryonic pattern's scaling characteristics.