A matter of time: temporal regulation of gastrulation morphogenesis

Shaping of the vertebrate body plan requires that embryonic cell behaviors be coordinated not only in space, but also in time. But how embryos both generate and respond to temporal cues remains poorly understood. Using zebrafish gastrulation as a model of morphogenetic cell behaviors, we have found that temporal dynamics of morphogen signaling determine tissue-specific morphogenetic outcomes. In a second study, we found that a wave of new transcription is required to kick start gastrulation morphogenesis, and identified specific genes whose levels determine the timing of morphogenesis onset. Together these findings highlight the important role of temporal regulation in shaping the embryo.