Wnt11 family dependent morphogenesis during frog gastrulation is marked by the cleavage furrow protein anillin

Wnt11 family proteins are ligands that activate a type of Dishevelled-mediated, non-canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Loss of function causes defects in gastrulation and/or anterior-posterior axis extension in all vertebrates. Non-mammalian vertebrate genomes encode two Wnt11 family proteins whose distinct functions have been unclear. We knocked down zygotic Wnt11b and Wnt11, separately and together, in Xenopus laevis. Single morphants exhibited very similar phenotypes of delayed blastopore closure, but they had different phenotypes at the tailbud stage. In response to their very similar gastrulation phenotypes, we chose to characterize dual morphants. Using dark field illuminated time-lapse imaging and kymograph analysis, we identified a failure of dorsal blastopore lip maturation that correlated with slower blastopore closure and failure to internalize the endoderm at the dorsal blastopore lip. We connected these externally visible phenotypes to cellular events in the internal tissues – including the archenteron – by imaging intact embryos stained for anillin and microtubules. The cleavage furrow protein anillin provided an exceptional cytological marker for blastopore lip and archenteron morphogenesis and the consequent disruption through loss of Wnt 11 signaling. These cytological changes suggest a novel role for the regulation of contractility and stiffness of the epithelial cells that result in dramatic shape changes and are important in gastrulation.