Gene expression oscillators can structure biological events temporally and spatially. Different biological functions benefit from distinct oscillator properties. Thus, finite developmental processes rely on oscillators that start and stop at specific times, a poorly understood behavior. Here, we have characterized a massive gene expression oscillator comprising > 3,700 genes in Caenorhabditis elegans larvae. We report that oscillations initiate in embryos, arrest transiently after hatching and in response to perturbation, and cease in adults. Experimental observation of the transitions between oscillatory and non‐oscillatory states at high temporal resolution reveals an oscillator operating near a Saddle Node on Invariant Cycle (SNIC ) bifurcation. These findings constrain the architecture and mathematical models that can represent this oscillator. They also reveal that oscillator arrests occur reproducibly in a specific phase. Since we find oscillations to be coupled to developmental processes, including molting, this characteristic of SNIC bifurcations endows the oscillator with the potential to halt larval development at defined intervals, and thereby execute a developmental checkpoint function.

中文翻译：

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秀丽隐杆线虫基因表达振荡器的发育功能和状态转换。

基因表达振荡器可以在时间和空间上构建生物事件。不同的生物功能受益于不同的振荡器特性。因此，有限的发育过程依赖于在特定时间启动和停止的振荡器，这是一种人们知之甚少的行为。在这里，我们表征了秀丽隐杆线虫幼虫中包含超过 3,700 个基因的大量基因表达振荡器。我们报告说，振荡在胚胎中开始，在孵化后和对扰动的反应中短暂停止，并在成人中停止。对高时间分辨率下振荡和非振荡状态之间转变的实验观察揭示了在不变循环 (SNIC) 分岔上鞍节点附近运行的振荡器。这些发现限制了可以代表该振荡器的架构和数学模型。他们还揭示了振荡器停顿在特定阶段可重复发生。由于我们发现振荡与包括蜕皮在内的发育过程相关，SNIC 分叉的这一特性赋予了振荡器以规定的时间间隔停止幼虫发育的潜力，从而执行发育检查点功能。