Dynamics of a $Volvox$ Embryo Turning Itself Inside Out

Abstract

Spherical embryos of the algal genus $Volvox$ must turn themselves inside out to complete their embryogenesis. This `inversion', which shares important features with morphological events such as gastrulation in animals, is perhaps the simplest example of a topological transition in developmental biology. Waves of cell shape changes are believed to play a major role in the process, but quantification of the dynamics and formulation of a mathematical description of the process have been lacking. Here, we use selective plane illumination microscopy on $V.globator$ to obtain the first quantitative three-dimensional visualizations of inversion $invivo$. A theory is formulated for inversion based on local variations of intrinsic curvature and stretching of an elastic shell, and for the mechanics of an elastic snap-through resisted by the surrounding fluid.

arXiv comment5 pages, 4 figures, video available on request to [email protected]

References in corpus (4)

• OpenSPIM - an open access platform for light sheet microscopy
• Dynamics of Snapping Beams and Jumping Poppers
• Buckling of Spherical Capsules
• The shape of a ponytail and the statistical physics of hair fiber bundles

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• The nonlinear buckling behavior of a complete spherical shell under uniform external pressure and homogenous natural curvature
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• Embryonic Inversion in $Volvoxcarteri$: The Flipping and Peeling of Elastic Lips
• Mechanical Feedback in Regulating the Size of Growing Multicellular Spheroids
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