Competing Patterns of Signaling Activity in Dictyostelium discoideum

• Main Authors: Lee, Kyoung J, Cox, Edward C, Goldstein, Raymond E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 28.01.1996
• Subjects: Physics - Disordered Systems and Neural Networks; Physics - Materials Science; Physics - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics; Physics - Other Condensed Matter; Physics - Pattern Formation and Solitons; Physics - Quantum Gases; Physics - Soft Condensed Matter; Physics - Statistical Mechanics; Physics - Strongly Correlated Electrons; Physics - Superconductivity; Quantitative Biology - Biomolecules; Quantitative Biology - Cell Behavior; Quantitative Biology - Genomics; Quantitative Biology - Molecular Networks; Quantitative Biology - Neurons and Cognition; Quantitative Biology - Other; Quantitative Biology - Populations and Evolution; Quantitative Biology - Quantitative Methods; Quantitative Biology - Subcellular Processes; Quantitative Biology - Tissues and Organs
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/9601135

Quantitative experiments are described on spatio-temporal patterns of coherent chemical signaling activity in populations of {\it Dictyostelium discoideum} amoebae. We observe competition between spontaneously firing centers and rotating spiral waves that depends strongly on the overall cell density. At low densities, no complete spirals appear and chemotactic aggregation is driven by periodic concentric waves, whereas at high densities the firing centers seen at early times nucleate and are apparently entrained by spiral waves whose cores ultimately serve as aggregation centers. Possible mechanisms for these observations are discussed.