Positional information encoded in the dynamic differences between neighbouring oscillators during vertebrate segmentation

How cells track their position during the segmentation of the vertebrate body remains elusive. For decades, this process has been interpreted according to the clock-and-wavefront model, where molecular oscillators set the frequency of somite formation while the positional information is encoded in signaling gradients. Recent experiments using ex vivo explants challenge this interpretation, suggesting that positional information is encoded in the properties of the oscillators. Here, we propose that positional information is encoded in the differential levels of neighboring oscillators. The differences gradually increase because both the oscillator amplitude and the period increase with time. When this difference exceeds a certain threshold, the segmentation program starts. Using this framework, we quantitatively fit experimental data from in vivo and ex vivo mouse segmentation, and propose mechanisms of somite scaling. Our results suggest a novel mechanism of spatial pattern formation based on the local interactions between dynamic molecular oscillators.