Spots and stripes: the patterning spectrum in the cellular slime mould Polysphondylium pallidum

Abstract

Whorls of the cellular slime mould Polysphondylium pallidum originate as spherical cell masses that during normal morphogenesis produce tips only at equidistant positions around their equator. We have observed a series of new patterns in whorls that differ from normal whorls only in that they are larger or more elongated. Among the novel patterns found were arrays of tips distributed fairly regularly over the whole whorl surface, as well as striped patterns detected at earlier stages with a tip-specific antigen. These altered patterns demonstrate that a whorl's size and shape are by themselves important factors in pattern determination. We have compared the range of observed patterns to those predicted by a variety of different theories. We find that while no one theory can account in detail for all of our observations, predictions based on Turing's scheme of pattern formation come the closest.