PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Laurent Jutras-Dubé
AU  - Ezzat El-Sherif
AU  - Paul François
TI  - Geometric models for robust encoding of dynamical information into embryonic patterns
AID  - 10.1101/2020.01.21.914598
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.01.21.914598
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/01/23/2020.01.21.914598.1.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/01/23/2020.01.21.914598.1.full
AB  - During development, cells gradually assume specialized fates via changes of transcriptional dynamics, sometimes even within the same developmental stage. For anterior-posterior patterning in metazoans, it has been suggested that the gradual transition from a dynamic genetic regime to a static one is encoded by different transcriptional modules. In that case, the static regime has an essential role in pattern formation in addition to its maintenance function. In this work, we introduce a geometric approach to study such transition. We exhibit two types of genetic regime transitions, respectively arising through local or global bifurcations. We find that the global bifurcation type is more generic, more robust, and better preserves dynamical information. This could parsimoniously explain common features of metazoan segmentation, such as changes of periods leading to waves of gene expressions, "speed/frequency-gradient" dynamics, and changes of wave patterns. Geometric approaches appear as possible alternatives to gene regulatory networks to understand development.