Theoretical aspects of stripe formation in relation to Drosophila segmentation.

Many aspects of Drosophila segmentation can be discussed in one-dimensional terms as a linear pattern of repeated elements or cell states. But the initial metameric pattern seen in the expression of pair-rule genes is fully two-dimensional, i.e. a pattern of stripes. Several lines of evidence suggest a kinetic mechanism acting globally during the syncytial blastoderm stage may be responsible for generating this pattern. The requirement that the mechanism should produce stripes, not spots or some other periodic pattern, imposes preconditions on this act, namely (1) sharp anterior and posterior boundaries that delimit the pattern-forming region, and (2) an axial asymmetrizing influence in the form of an anteroposterior gradient. Models for Drosophila segmentation generally rely on the gradient to provide positional information in the form of concentration thresholds that cue downstream elements of a hierarchical control system. This imposes restrictions on how such models cope with experimental disturbances to the gradient. A shallower gradient, for example, means fewer pattern elements. This need not be the case if the gradient acts through a kinetic mechanism like reaction-diffusion that involves the whole system. It is then the overall direction of the gradient that is important rather than specific concentration values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)