Regensburg 2025 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 17: Poster Session II
BP 17.80: Poster
Dienstag, 18. März 2025, 18:00–20:30, P4
Species-specific biomineral pattern formation in centric diatoms — •Francesco Leone1, Nils Kröger1,2, and Benjamin M. Friedrich1 — 1Physics of Life, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden — 2B CUBE, TU Dresden, 01307 Dresden
Diatoms are unicellular algae known for their intricately patterned cell walls, primarily composed of amorphous silica (SiO2). Their hierarchically patterns biomineral architectures display outstanding material properties but also represent an ideal model system to study species-specific pattern formation during biomineralization by living organisms. In centric "barrel-shaped" diatoms, the "lids" display three prominent pattern features: branched rib patterns with radial symmetry, nano-pores and transverse connections. How these different pattern features evolve and mutually influence each other is not known. We are extending a mathematical model of branching morphogenesis, previously developed in our group for a single model species [1], to account for the variety of patterns in related species and mutants. To facilitate a rigorous quantitative comparison to electron microscopy images, we are developing automated image analysis pipelines for the morphometric characterization of different phenotypes. Through this research, we aim to reverse-engineer putative chemical and physical mechanisms taking place during diatom silica cell wall formation.
[1] Babenko et al. PNAS 121(10): e2309518121 2024
Keywords: Pattern formation; Image analysis; Reaction-diffusion; Diatom; Biomineralization