dc.description.abstract
Beyond genomic information, biological growth processes demand environmental energy to unfold over space and time. Subjecting Drosophila melanogaster pupae to hyper-gravity environments of up to 1000 times greater than that of planet earths, creates a non-genetic perturbation method, that illuminates non-genetic developmental variability. Effectively increasing the mass of the pupae by three orders of magnitude, this study presents developmental growth patterns, of wild-type and transgenic organisms embedded in an environmental challenge, that has never been displayed by natural evolution on earth. Interestingly, it was discovered that beyond 300g (RCF) a developmental asymmetry appears, that locally divides the developmental progression of the organism at various scales of observation. Quantifying this phenotypical asymmetry at the organismic, organ and cellular level, this study present a gravity dependent phenotype, that has never been described for any developing organism. Using the optic lobe of Drosophila melanogaster as a model for brain development, this study shows novel layering patterns in the medulla, and hyper-gravity induced asymmetric brain morphology. Probing different scales of this variant phenotype, the R7 Photoreceptor neuron was used as a model to investigate hyper-gravity induced asymmetries on the single cellular level. Quantifying neuropil, single cell morphology, and filopodial dynamics in a hyper-gravity context, this study outlines, that neurons survive the treatment, with no visible perturbation, in regards to sub-cellular and molecular dynamics. However, investigation of the synaptic targets of the R7 neuron, revealed a novel synaptic partner profile, only visible in brains developing under hyper-gravity conditions.
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