Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Modelling Dictyostelium discoideum morphogenesis: the culmination.

Athanasius F M Marée1, Paulien Hogeweg

  • 1University of Utrecht, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands. stan@iam.ubc.ca

Bulletin of Mathematical Biology
|April 3, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Cellular slime mold culmination involves cyclic AMP signaling and differential adhesion. These factors, simulated in a novel model, explain stalk formation and spore head development during morphogenesis.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Eco-evolutionary dynamics of massive, parallel bacteriophage outbreaks in compost communities.

Science advances·2026
Same author

The risk of sexual reproduction promotes the evolution of regulation between host and symbionts.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2026
Same author

Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities.

FEMS microbiology reviews·2026
Same author

Ribosome stalling-induced NIP5;1 mRNA decay triggers ARGONAUTE1-dependent transcription downregulation.

Nucleic acids research·2025
Same author

Intracellular signaling in proto-eukaryotes evolves to alleviate regulatory conflicts of endosymbiosis.

PLoS computational biology·2024
Same author

Obligate endosymbiosis enables genome expansion during eukaryogenesis.

Communications biology·2023

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Computational Biology

Background:

  • Morphogenesis in Dictyostelium discoideum involves complex cell movements.
  • Culmination transforms a cell mound into a spore head atop a stalk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To simulate and explain the morphogenetic cell movements during Dictyostelium discoideum culmination.
  • To identify the key factors driving stalk formation and spore head development.

Main Methods:

  • Hybrid cellular automata and partial differential equation modeling.
  • Simulation of cyclic AMP signaling, differential adhesion, cell differentiation, and slime production.

Main Results:

  • Successfully reproduced key culmination features: downward stalk elongation, substratum anchoring, and spore head formation.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Demonstrated that cyclic AMP signaling induces pressure waves, squeezing the stalk through the cell mass.
  • Identified inactive 'pathfinder' cells guiding stalk elongation.

    • Conclusions:

    • Cyclic AMP signaling and differential adhesion are sufficient for Dictyostelium discoideum culmination.
    • Stalk elongation is driven by pressure waves from chemotaxis, guided by pathfinder cells.
    • No global gradients or varied chemotaxis modes are necessary for this developmental process.