Presentacion mural: How is the timing of cell division influenced by variation in temperature?

FEDERICO VAZQUEZ

Dresden

Encuentro; Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft Spring Meeting 2011; 2011

Accurate timing of early embryogenesis is crucial for the developmentof an organism, and is subject to sensitive dependence on fluctuationsin temperature. We investigate the correlation between timing andtemperature using C. elegans as a model organism, which benefits from rapidearly cell divisions and an inability to maintain a constant bodytemperature independent of ambient conditions. We propose a simplemodel which attributes an observed Arrhenius temperature dependence tothe combined dependence of individual chemical reactions involved inthe cell cycle. We question whether the experimental results are bestexplained by just one limiting chemical reaction, as suggested inprevious studies, or by a more complex sequence of reactions thatfunction in synchrony.  We compare the temperature dependence ofC. elegans and C. briggsae, two closely related organismsknown to differ in their optimal temperature range.