Fig. 3. MT bands are present at the subapical region where the time change of surface tension reach a maximum.

a Schematic illustration of the viscoelasto-plastic deformation model. For details, see “Methods”. b–d Results of parameter estimation for the untreated wild-type (WT) zygote are shown in Fig. 1a. b Comparisons of cell growth rate (dL/dt) and cell tip radius (r_e) between time-lapse observation data (Data; magenta) and reconstructed model zygote (Model; green). c Estimated turgor pressure (P) and extensibility range (l_g). d Comparisons of the contour dynamics of Data and Model. Only the right half of the zygote tip is shown. e–g Calculated circumferential surface tension (σ_θ) (e), its time change (Dσ_θ/Dt) (f), and observed MT signal intensity (g) (Supplementary Movie 5). Values at each distance from the zygote tip (S) are plotted with color codes, as shown to the right of each graph. Magenta lines and crosses in (g) indicate the MT bands and their centers, respectively. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.