Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis

Describing morphogenesis generally consists in aggregating the multiple high-resolution spatiotemporal processes involved into reproducible low-dimensional morphological processes consistent across individuals of the same species or group. In order to achieve this goal, biologists often have to subm...

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Main Authors: Joel Dokmegang, Emmanuel Faure, Patrick Lemaire, Edwin Munro, Madhav Mani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2025-06-01
Series:eLife
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Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/94391
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author Joel Dokmegang
Emmanuel Faure
Patrick Lemaire
Edwin Munro
Madhav Mani
author_facet Joel Dokmegang
Emmanuel Faure
Patrick Lemaire
Edwin Munro
Madhav Mani
author_sort Joel Dokmegang
collection DOAJ
description Describing morphogenesis generally consists in aggregating the multiple high-resolution spatiotemporal processes involved into reproducible low-dimensional morphological processes consistent across individuals of the same species or group. In order to achieve this goal, biologists often have to submit movies issued from live imaging of developing embryos either to a qualitative analysis or to basic statistical analysis. These approaches, however, present noticeable drawbacks as they can be time consuming, hence unfit for scale, and often lack standardization and a firm foundation. In this work, we leverage the power of a continuum mechanics approach and flexibility of spectral decompositions to propose a standardized framework for automatic detection and timing of morphological processes. First, we quantify whole-embryo scale shape changes in developing ascidian embryos by statistically estimating the strain rate tensor field of its time-evolving surface without the requirement of cellular segmentation and tracking. We then apply to this data spectral decomposition in space using spherical harmonics and in time using wavelets transforms. These transformations result in the identification of the principal dynamical modes of ascidian embryogenesis and the automatic unveiling of its blueprint in the form of scalograms that tell the story of development in ascidian embryos.
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spelling doaj-art-e6cbb8bc76994e1b8c072567ff0503272025-08-20T03:20:44ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2025-06-011310.7554/eLife.94391Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesisJoel Dokmegang0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9953-7913Emmanuel Faure1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2787-0885Patrick Lemaire2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4925-2009Edwin Munro3Madhav Mani4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5812-4167Northwestern University, Evanston, United States; NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Evanston, United StatesUniversity of Montpellier, Montpellier, France; LIRMM, Montpellier, FranceUniversity of Montpellier, Montpellier, France; CNRS, Paris, FranceUniversity of Chicago, Chicago, United StatesNorthwestern University, Evanston, United States; NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology, Evanston, United StatesDescribing morphogenesis generally consists in aggregating the multiple high-resolution spatiotemporal processes involved into reproducible low-dimensional morphological processes consistent across individuals of the same species or group. In order to achieve this goal, biologists often have to submit movies issued from live imaging of developing embryos either to a qualitative analysis or to basic statistical analysis. These approaches, however, present noticeable drawbacks as they can be time consuming, hence unfit for scale, and often lack standardization and a firm foundation. In this work, we leverage the power of a continuum mechanics approach and flexibility of spectral decompositions to propose a standardized framework for automatic detection and timing of morphological processes. First, we quantify whole-embryo scale shape changes in developing ascidian embryos by statistically estimating the strain rate tensor field of its time-evolving surface without the requirement of cellular segmentation and tracking. We then apply to this data spectral decomposition in space using spherical harmonics and in time using wavelets transforms. These transformations result in the identification of the principal dynamical modes of ascidian embryogenesis and the automatic unveiling of its blueprint in the form of scalograms that tell the story of development in ascidian embryos.https://elifesciences.org/articles/94391ascidianmorphogenesisgastrulationneurulationspherical harmonicswaveket transform
spellingShingle Joel Dokmegang
Emmanuel Faure
Patrick Lemaire
Edwin Munro
Madhav Mani
Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
eLife
ascidian
morphogenesis
gastrulation
neurulation
spherical harmonics
waveket transform
title Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
title_full Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
title_fullStr Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
title_full_unstemmed Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
title_short Spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
title_sort spectral decomposition unlocks ascidian morphogenesis
topic ascidian
morphogenesis
gastrulation
neurulation
spherical harmonics
waveket transform
url https://elifesciences.org/articles/94391
work_keys_str_mv AT joeldokmegang spectraldecompositionunlocksascidianmorphogenesis
AT emmanuelfaure spectraldecompositionunlocksascidianmorphogenesis
AT patricklemaire spectraldecompositionunlocksascidianmorphogenesis
AT edwinmunro spectraldecompositionunlocksascidianmorphogenesis
AT madhavmani spectraldecompositionunlocksascidianmorphogenesis