Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 18: Poster VI
BP 18.10: Poster
Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 14:00–16:00, P2/2OG
The effect of blue light on Physarum polycephalum cytoplasm flow for different topologies — •Siyu Chen1, Felix Bäuerle1, Jean-Daniel Julien1, and Karen Alim1,2 — 1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Göttingen, Germany — 2Technische Universität München, München, Germany
The network-forming unicellular slime mould Physarum polycephalum adapts to external stimuli in a coordinated manner over an extended body plan in space and time. This is achieved by sharing information and resources across the body plane in a peristaltic wave that adapts to body size.
Among the common external stimuli, one of the most studied stimuli is blue light, which triggers a retreat response in P. polycephalum. This change of the slime mould’s environment are met with an adaptation of its tubes’ oscillatory activity.
In this project we focus on the relationship between the topology of the network and their responses towards the external stimuli. We suspect that, when P. polycephalum was exposed to the blue light, it regulates the fluid properties of the endoplasm, and this process diversifies with different topology. Here we experimentally observe how P. polycephalum in different topologies responses to blue light stimuli. We quantify its contraction pattern and flow information such as velocity and viscosity to compare with our theoretical expectations.