Berlin 2015 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 19: Multi-cellular systems
BP 19.1: Invited Talk
Tuesday, March 17, 2015, 09:30–10:00, H 1058
Emerging social behaviour during aggregation in Dictyostelium discoideum — Giovanna De Palo1, Darvin Yi2, Thomas Gregor2, and •Robert Endres1 — 1Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, UK — 2Joseph Henry Lab. of Physics, Princeton University, USA
During starvation, the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum aggregates artfully via pattern formation into a multicellular slug and finally spores. The aggregation process is mediated by the secretion and sensing of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), leading to the synchronised movement of cells. The whole process is a remarkable example of collective behaviour, spontaneously emerging from single-cell chemotaxis. Despite this phenomenon being broadly studied, the precise mechanism of aggregation starting from single cells is still unclear. Here, we extend a detailed single-cell model of D. discoideum chemotaxis by adding cell-cell communication. We then use these results to build a population model with rules derived from single cells. We validate our results with experimental FRET data, where both intracellular concentration of cAMP and collective movements are measured. By analysing cell shape and behaviour we show evidence of a critical point at the onset of aggregation. Specifically, by considering the morphospace we show how the average cell shape changes with the directional correlation diverging exactly during the streaming process. Similar methods could also be exploited for the understanding of other examples of collective behaviours, ranging from the complexity of animal migration to cell organisation in embryonic morphogenesis.