title: A quantitative analysis of growth control in the Drosophila eye disc.
abstract: The size and shape of organs is species specific, and even in species in which organ size is strongly influenced by environmental cues, such as nutrition or temperature, it follows defined rules. Therefore, mechanisms must exist to ensure a tight control of organ size within a given species, while being flexible enough to allow for the evolution of different organ sizes in different species. We combined computational modeling and quantitative measurements to analyze growth control in the Drosophila eye disc. We find that the area growth rate declines inversely proportional to the increasing total eye disc area. We identify two growth laws that are consistent with the growth data and that would explain the extraordinary robustness and evolutionary plasticity of the growth process and thus of the final adult eye size. These two growth laws correspond to very different control mechanisms and we discuss how each of these laws constrains the set of candidate biological mechanisms for growth control in the Drosophila eye disc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems, Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich, Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jannik
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vollmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems, Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich, Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fried
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, CSIC and Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Campus UPO, Seville 41013, Spain.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Aragón
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, CSIC and Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Campus UPO, Seville 41013, Spain.
authors.forename: Carla S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Department of Gene Regulation and Morphogenesis, CABD, CSIC and Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Campus UPO, Seville 41013, Spain fcasfer@upo.es dagmar.iber@bsse.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casares
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosystems, Science and Engineering (D-BSSE), ETH Zurich, Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Mattenstraße 26, Basel 4058, Switzerland fcasfer@upo.es dagmar.iber@bsse.ethz.ch.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iber
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000196:embryology*; D060227:Imaginal Discs / Q000254:growth & development*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000254:growth & development*; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Eye disc development; Growth dynamics; Organ size; Robustness