Open AccessReactive/Less-cooperative individuals advance population’s synchronization: Modeling of Dictyostelium discoideum concerted signaling during aggregation phase
Author(s) -
Zahra Eidi,
Nematollah Khorasani,
Mehdi Sadeghi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0259742
Subject(s) - dictyostelium discoideum , multicellular organism , dictyostelium , biology , population , evolutionary biology , synchronization (alternating current) , microbiology and biotechnology , ecology , genetics , computer science , demography , sociology , gene , computer network , channel (broadcasting)
Orchestrated chemical signaling of single cells sounds to be a linchpin of emerging organization and multicellular life form. The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a well-studied model organism to explore overall pictures of grouped behavior in developmental biology. The chemical waves secreted by aggregating Dictyostelium is a superb example of pattern formation. The waves are either circular or spiral in shape, according to the incremental population density of a self-aggregating community of individuals. Here, we revisit the spatiotemporal patterns that appear in an excitable medium due to synchronization of randomly firing individuals, but with a more parsimonious attitude. According to our model, a fraction of these individuals are less involved in amplifying external stimulants. Our simulations indicate that the cells enhance the system’s asymmetry and as a result, nucleate early sustainable spiral territory zones, provided that their relative population does not exceed a tolerable threshold.