Communication between oscillating cells regulates the period of embryonic morphogenesis

The sequential formation of somites along the elongating zebrafish body
axis is a model system for understanding the patterning of a growing
tissue as well as the control of biological timing. We have used a
combination of live imaging, gene expression analysis, and physical
theory to explore the organization and function of the segmentation
clock, the synchronized oscillating gene network that underlies the
dynamics of somitogenesis. I will discuss new experimental results
identifying the first somitogenesis period mutants, and corresponding
theoretical approaches that explain the collective control of cellular
oscillations at the tissue level in terms of the delays in the coupling
between cells.