208 Oral - Closing Plenary
Sunday April 10, 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM

Author:
Robert Johnston

Affiliation: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Keywords:
z. other (Stochastic cell fate specification); n. other (Stochastic cell fate specification)

Nervous systems are extremely complex, with a myriad of neuronal subtypes defined by distinct functions, morphologies, and connectivities. Neuronal fate specification is driven by lineage, signaling, and stochastic regulatory inputs. The mechanisms controlling stochastic fate specification, in which a cell randomly chooses between two or more fates, are poorly understood. Studying the Drosophila retina, we characterized how natural variation in transcriptional regulation alters stochastic photoreceptor specification and color perception. We determined a mechanism in which simple interactions between transcription and chromatin compaction underlie this stochastic cell fate choice. Our findings suggest fundamental mechanistic principles underlying stochastic fate specification across species. Our work is revealing how cells harness molecular noise to control cell fate decisions in a metazoan.