Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking Turing-Type Pattern Formation in a Confined <i>Dictyostelium</i> Cell Mass

Satoshi Sawai; Yasuo Maeda; Yasuji Sawada

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.2212

Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking Turing-Type Pattern Formation in a Confined Dictyostelium Cell Mass

Satoshi Sawai, Yasuo Maeda, and Yasuji Sawada

Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2212 – Published 4 September 2000

Abstract

We have discovered a new type of patterning which occurs in a two-dimensionally confined cell mass of the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum. Besides the longitudinal structure reported earlier, we observed a spontaneous symmetry breaking spot pattern whose wavelength shows similar strain dependency to that of the longitudinal pattern. We propose that these structures are due to a reaction-diffusion Turing instability similar to the one which has been exemplified by CIMA (chlorite-iodide-malonic acid) reaction. The present finding may exhibit the first biochemical Turing structure in a developmental system with a controllable boundary condition.

Received 26 January 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.2212

Authors & Affiliations

Satoshi Sawai¹, Yasuo Maeda², and Yasuji Sawada³

¹Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Katahira, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
²Biological Institute, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Aoba, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
³Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Katahira, Sendai 980-8577, Japan