Back to Search
Start Over
Modelling Dictyostelium discoideum Morphogenesis: the Culmination
- Source :
- Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 64:327-353
- Publication Year :
- 2002
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2002.
-
Abstract
- The culmination of the morphogenesis of the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum involves complex cell movements which transform a mound of cells into a globule of spores on a slender stalk. We show that cyclic AMP signalling and differential adhesion, combined with cell differentiation and slime production, are sufficient to produce the morphogenetic cell movements which lead to culmination. We have simulated the process of culmination using a hybrid cellular automata/partial differential equation model. With our model we have been able to reproduce the main features that occur during culmination, namely the straight downward elongation of the stalk, its anchoring to the substratum and the formation of the long thin stalk topped by the spore head. We conclude that the cyclic AMP signalling system is responsible for the elongation and anchoring of the stalk, but in a roundabout way: pressure waves that are induced by the chemotaxis towards cyclic AMP squeeze the stalk through the cell mass. This mechanism forces the stalk to elongate precisely in the direction opposite to that of the chemotactically moving cells. The process turns out to be ‘guided’ by inactive ‘pathfinder’ cells, which form the tip of the stalk. We show that the entire development is enacted by means of the aforementioned building blocks. This means that no global gradients or different modes of chemotaxis are needed to complete the culmination. MPEG movies of the simulations are available on-line: http://www-binf.bio. uu.nl/stan/bmb.
- Subjects :
- General Mathematics
Cellular differentiation
Immunology
Morphogenesis
Models, Biological
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Dictyostelium discoideum
Botany
Cell Adhesion
Cyclic AMP
Slime mold
Animals
Computer Simulation
Dictyostelium
General Environmental Science
Pharmacology
biology
General Neuroscience
fungi
Cell Differentiation
Chemotaxis
biology.organism_classification
Culmination
Computational Theory and Mathematics
Stalk
Biophysics
Elongation
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Signal Transduction
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00928240
- Volume :
- 64
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....c9408dfdbc660b7e5bc4b153620436b6