From Networks to Traveling Waves and Back: Persistent Pattern Generation Across Collective Phases in C. elegans

Area of Science:

• * Collective behavior and emergent phenomena in biological systems.
• * Agent-based modeling for simulating complex organism interactions.

Background:

• * Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) display distinct collective behaviors: network formation and traveling consumption waves.
• * These phenomena were previously studied in isolation, lacking a unified explanation.
• * Understanding the generative rules behind these collective phases is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To develop a minimal agent-based model explaining the sequential formation of networks and waves in C. elegans.
• * To identify the essential components and environmental factors driving these collective behaviors.
• * To unify the description of multi-phase collective phenomena under a single generative program.

Main Methods:

• * Development of a minimal agent-based model for C. elegans.
• * Simulation of worm interactions, including body geometry, movement patterns, density preference, and food chemotaxis.
• * Analysis of collective organization through network topology and wave dynamics.

Main Results:

• * A single generative program with four key components (body shape, movement, density navigation, chemotaxis) successfully reproduces both network and wave phases.
• * The transition between phases is driven by changes in the food environment, not underlying behavioral rules.
• * Network organization persists subtly during the wave phase, indicating continuity.
• * Model parameters explain strain-specific differences in wave dynamics and social behavior.

Conclusions:

• * Complex, multi-phase collective behaviors in C. elegans can arise from a unified generative program.
• * The study shifts focus from emergent patterns to the underlying behavioral components and environmental context.
• * This framework provides a new perspective on spatial organization and collective dynamics in biological systems.