Early C. elegans embryos modulate cell division timing to compensate for, and survive, the discordant conditions of a severe temperature gradient

Despite a constant barrage of intrinsic and environmental noise, embryogenesis is remarkably reliable, suggesting the existence of systems that ensure faithful execution of this complex process. We report that early C. elegans embryos, which normally show a highly reproducible lineage and cellular geometry, can compensate for deviations imposed by the discordant conditions of a steep temperature gradient generated in a microfluidic device starting at the two-cell stage. Embryos can survive a gradient of up to 7.5{degrees}C across the 50-micron axis through at least three rounds of division. This response is orientation-dependent: survival is higher when the normally faster-dividing anterior daughter of the zygote, AB, but not its sister, the posterior P1, is warmer. We find that temperature-dependent cellular division rates in the early embryo can be effectively modeled by a modification of the Arrhenius equation. Further, both cells respond to the gradient by dramatically reducing division rates compared to the predicted rates for the temperature experienced by the cell even though the temperature extremes are well within the range for normal development. This finding suggests that embryos may sense discordance and slow development in response. We found that in the cohort of surviving embryos, the cell on the warmer side at the two-cell stage shows a greater average decrease in expected division rate than that on the cooler side, thereby preserving the normal cellular geometry of the embryo under the discordant conditions. A diminished average slow-down response correlated with lethality, presumably owing to disruption of normal division order and developmental fidelity. Remarkably, some inviable embryos in which the canonical division order was reversed nonetheless proceeded through relatively normal morphogenesis, suggesting a subsequent compensation mechanism independent of cell division control. These findings provide evidence for a previously unrecognized process in C. elegans embryos that may serve to compensate for deviations imposed by aberrant environmental conditions, thereby resulting in a high-fidelity output.