Deciphering mechanical determinants of morphological evolution - PubMed
5 hours ago
- #morphogenesis
- #mechanobiology
- #evo-devo
- The study explores how mechanical forces influence morphological diversity across species.
- Researchers analyzed six cnidarian species to identify mechanical modules (mechanotypes) that predict larval shapes.
- Shape elongation is determined by a single mechanical module, while shape polarity depends on multiple modules.
- Perturbations mimicking regulatory differences between species can reprogram larval morphology to resemble other species.
- The findings provide a mesoscale mechanical framework for understanding how tissue-scale parameters generate morphological diversity.