4:55 PM - 5:40 PM
[22p-A401-6] Extracelluar construction by amoeba communities
Keywords:cell, self-organization, autonomous distributed systems
The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is well known for its development that is highly self-organizing. The cells aggregate and differentiate into prespore or prestalk cells that initially appear at random position then exhibits three-dimensional cell repositioning and invagination to form a fruiting body that is supported by a robust cellulose-based stalk tube. Despite the system being the classic and well-studied, the exact navigational rules that guide the cells in this process that includes the stalk tube formation remains elusive. Here, based on our recent microscopy and computational based analysis, we show how cell polarization and migration are coordinated to give rise to the stalk tube and the rising spore head The present findings cast light on how a network of mobile distributed elements can give rise to building remarkably sophisticated structures. Some of the parallels in morphogenetic cell movements between metazoa and amoebozoa will also be discussed.