PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Aurélien Villedieu
AU  - Lale Alpar
AU  - Isabelle Gaugue
AU  - Amina Joudat
AU  - François Graner
AU  - Floris Bosveld
AU  - Yohanns Bellaïche
TI  - Homeotic compartment curvature and tension control spatiotemporal folding dynamics
AID  - 10.1101/2022.11.19.517180
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.11.19.517180
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/11/21/2022.11.19.517180.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/11/21/2022.11.19.517180.full
AB  - Shape is a conspicuous and fundamental property of biological systems entailing the function of organs and tissues. While much emphasis has been put on how tissue tension and mechanical properties drive shape changes, whether and how a given tissue geometry influences subsequent morphogenesis remains poorly characterized. Here, we explored how curvature, a key descriptor of tissue geometry, impinges on the dynamics of epithelial tissue invagination. We found that the morphogenesis of the fold separating the adult Drosophila head and thorax segments is driven by the invagination of the Deformed (Dfd) homeotic compartment. Dfd controls invagination by modulating actomyosin organization and in-plane epithelial tension via the Tollo and Dystroglycan receptors. By experimentally introducing curvature heterogeneity within the homeotic compartment, we established that a curved tissue geometry converts the Dfd-dependent in-plane tension into an inward force driving folding. Accordingly, the interplay between in-plane tension and tissue curvature quantitatively explains the spatiotemporal folding dynamics. Collectively, our work highlights how genetic patterning and tissue geometry provide a simple design principle driving folding morphogenesis during development.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.