Rotation of sex combs in Drosophila melanogaster requires precise and coordinated spatio-temporal dynamics from forces generated by epithelial cells
Fig 8
A suitable temporal sequence of expansion of distal epithelial cells improves breaking statistics for longer SCs.
A Four graphs of intact ratio vs adhesion between SC teeth, with different line colours representing the effect of different magnitudes (in mcs) of delayed expansion of the distal epithelial cells closer to the base of the SC (blue coloured EP1 cells in Fig 5B) relative to the epithelial cells closer to the tip of the SC (magenta EP2 cells in Fig 5B) on intact ratio. Each graph shows the results for one particular SC length (5, 7, 9 or 11-tooth SC). B Two example 11-tooth SC simulations showing that delayed expansion of distal epithelial cells closer to the base of SC reduces incidences of SC breaking during rotation. Left: all distal epithelial cells expand at the same time. Right: delayed expansion of distal epithelial cells closer to the base of SC (i.e. EP1) by 120 mcs. Both example simulations share the same random seed and other parameters (with SC adhesion in the parameter regime labelled with “#” in A) except the cell expansion sequence. S3 and S4 Videos show the frame-by-frame capture of the two simulations, respectively.