Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 3: Cell Adhesion and Migration, Multicellular Systems I

BP 3.7: Invited Talk

Monday, March 12, 2018, 11:15–11:45, H 2013

Morphology control by active fluid flows — •Karen Alim — Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Germany

Fluid flows can induce long-ranged interactions and propagate information on large scales. Especially during the development of an organism, coordination on large scales in short time is essential. What are the principal mechanisms of how fluid flows induce, transmit and respond to biological signals and thus control morphology? The role of fluid flows in patterning and morphing is particularly prominent during the growth and adaptation of transport networks like vascular networks. Here, the network-forming slime mould Physarum polycephalum emerged as a model to study the complex dynamics of transport networks. Investigating the pivotal role of fluid flows in this live transport network we find that flows are patterned in a peristaltic wave across the network thereby optimising transport. In fact, flows are hijacked by signals to propagate throughout the network promoting their own transport by invoking a propagating front of increased flow. These simple non-linear dynamics are sufficient to explain surprisingly complex dynamics of the network-like organism as adapting into the shortest path through a maze.