© 2010 • 301 pp., illus., index
Hardcover • $135 33.75 • ISBN  978-0-879698-89-8
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Symmetry breaking events are critical for the survival of living systems. They are required for cell division, development, and movement in all organisms from single-celled species to human beings. Moreover, in multicellular organisms, symmetry breaking allows the generation of cells with different fates and underpins the complex arrangement of tissues and organs achieved during embryogenesis.

Written and edited by experts in the field, this volume explores how symmetry breaking occurs in biology and the roles of these events at numerous different levels. The contributors examine the mechanisms by which cells polarize, divide asymmetrically, and produce asymmetric structures, providing examples from bacteria, yeast, plants, invertebrates, and mammals.

Including discussions of the molecular basis of polarization mechanisms, asymmetric division of stem cells during development, the generation of left-right asymmetry of the body axis in mammals, and theoretical approaches to symmetry breaking, the volume is a vital reference for molecular, cell, and developmental biologists, as well as physical scientists interested in how and why symmetry breaking occurs in living systems.

Preface

Symmetry Breaking in Biology

Rong Li and Bruce Bowerman

Cytoskeletal Mechanisms for Breaking Cellular Symmetry

R. Dyche Mullins

Widely Conserved Signaling Pathways in the Establishment of Cell Polarity

Luke Martin McCaffrey and Ian G. Macara

Membrane Organization and Dynamics in Cell Polarity

Kelly Orlando and Wei Guo

Physical Model of Cellular Symmetry Breaking

Jasper van der Gucht and Cécile Sykes

Cellular Polarity in Prokaryotic Organisms

Jonathan Dworkin

Shaping Fission Yeast with Microtubules

Fred Chang and Sophie G. Martin

Symmetry Breaking in the Life Cycle of the Budding Yeast

Brian D. Slaughter, Sarah E. Smith, and Rong Li

Cellular Symmetry Breaking During Caenorhabditis elegans Development

Edwin Munro and Bruce Bowerman

Polarization of Drosophila Neuroblasts During Asymmetric Division

Kenneth E. Prehoda

Polarity in Stem Cell Division: Asymmetric Stem Cell Division in Tissue Homeostasis

Yukiko M. Yamashita, Hebao Yuan, Jun Cheng, and Alan J. Hunt

Symmetry Breaking in Plants: Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Asymmetric Cell Divisions in Arabidopsis

Jalean J. Petricka, Jaimie M. Van Norman, and Philip N. Benfey

The Signaling Mechanisms Underlying Cell Polarity and Chemotaxis

Fei Wang

Remodeling Epithelial Cell Organization: Transitions Between Front–Rear and Apical–Basal Polarity

W. James Nelson

Neuronal Polarity

Sabina Tahirovic and Frank Bradke

Planar Cell Polarity Signaling: The Developing Cell’s Compass

Eszter K. Vladar, Dragana Antic, and Jeffrey D. Axelrod

Symmetry Breaking During Drosophila Oogenesis

Siegfried Roth and Jeremy A. Lynch

Left–Right Determination: Involvement of Molecular Motor KIF3, Cilia, and Nodal Flow

Nobutaka Hirokawa, Yosuke Tanaka, and Yasushi Okada

Index