Abstract
How periodic patterns are generatedisan open question. A number of mechanisms have been proposed – most famously, Turing’s reaction-diffusion model. However, many theoretical and experimental studies focus on the Turing mechanism while ignoring other possible mechanisms. Here, we use a general model of periodic patterning to show that different types of mechanism (molecular, cellular, mechanical) can generate qualitatively similar final patterns. Observation of final patterns is therefore not sufficient to favour one mechanism over others. However, we propose that a mathematical approach can help to guide the design of experiments that can distinguish between different mechanisms, and illustrate the potential value of this approach with specific biological examples.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 409-419 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Development (Cambridge) |
| Volume | 142 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsWe thank Fengzhu Xiong, Ian Swinburne, Allon Klein, Jeremy Gunawardena, Charlotte Strandkvist, José Reyes, Max Darnell and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and discussions.
Funding
This work is supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant DC010791]. T.W.H. is also supported by the Herchel Smith Graduate Fellowship. Deposited in PMC for release after 12 months.
Keywords
- Mathematical biology
- Pattern formation
- Periodic patterning
- Pigment pattern
- Reaction-diffusion
- Turing