Abstract
Many aspects of metazoan morphogenesis find parallels in the communal behavior of microorganisms. The cellular slime mold D. discoideum has long provided a metaphor for multicellular embryogenesis. However, the spatial patterns in D.d. colonies are generated by an intercellular communication system based on diffusible morphogens, whereas the interactions between embryonic cells are more often mediated by direct cell contact. For this reason, the myxobacteria have emerged as a contending system in which to study spatial pattern formation, for their colony strutures rival those of D.d. in complexity, yet communication between cells in a colony is carried out by direct cell contacts. Here I sketch some of the progress my laboratory has made in modeling the life cycle of these organisms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bustamante, V., Martinez-Flores, I., Vlamakis, H., Zusman, D., 2004. Mol. Microbiol. 53, 1501–1513.
Csahok, Z., Czirok, A., 1997. Physica A: Stat. Theor. Phys. 243, 304–318.
Grilione, P., Pangborn, J., 1975. JB 124, 1558–1565.
Holley, S.A., Takeda, H., 2002. Semin. Cell Dev. Biol. 13, 481–488.
Igoshin, I., Goldbeter, A., Kaiser, A.D., Oster, G., 2004a. PNAS 101(44), 15760–15765.
Igoshin, I., Oster, G., 2003. Math. Biosci. 188, 221–233.
Igoshin, I., Welch, R., Kaiser, D., Oster, G., 2004b. PNAS 101, 4256–4261.
Igoshin, O., Kaiser, D., Oster, G., 2004c. Curr. Biol. 14, R459–R462.
Igoshin, O., Mogilner, A., Welch, R., Kaiser, D., Oster, G., 2001. PNAS 98, 14913–14918.
Igoshin, O., Neu, J., Oster, G., 2004d. Phys. Rev. E 70, 1–11.
Kaiser, D., 2004. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 58, 75–98.
Kaiser, D., Welch, R., 2004. J. Bacteriol. 186, 919–927.
Kaiser, D., Yu, R., 2004. Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University, pp. 1–10.
Lewis, J., 2003. Curr. Biol. 13, 1398–1408.
Maier, B., Koomey, M., Sheetz, M., 2004. PNAS 101, 10961–10966.
Maier, B., Potter, L., So, M., Seifert, H., Sheetz, M., 2002. PNAS 99, 16012–16017.
McBride, M., 2000. Am. Soc. Microbiol. News 66, 203–210.
McBride, M., 2001. Am. Rev. Microbiol. 55, 49–75.
McCarren, J., Heuser, J., Roth, R., Yamada, N., Martone, M., Brahamsha, B., 2005. J. Bacteriol. 187, 224–230.
Mignot, T., Merlie, J., Zusman, D., 2005. Science, 310(5749), 855–857.
Nudleman, E., Kaiser, D., 2004. J. Mol. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 7, 52–62.
Nudleman, E., Wall, D., Kaiser, D., 2005. Science 309, 125–127.
Oster, G., 2004. J. Theor. Biol. 230, 451–458.
Sager, B., Kaiser, D., 1994. Genes Dev. 8, 2793–2804.
Schweitzer, F., 2003. Brownian Agents and Active Particles: Collective Dynamics in the Natural and Social Sciences. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Sliusarenko, O., Zusman, D., Oster, G., 2006. PNAS 103(5), 1534–1539
Welch, R., Kaiser, D., 2001. PNAS 98, 14907–14912.
Winfree, A., 2001. The Geometry of Biological Time. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, New York.
Wolgemuth, C., Hoiczyk, E., Kaiser, D., Oster, G., 2002. Curr. Biol. 12, 369–377.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sliusarenko, O., Chen, J. & Oster, G. From Biochemistry to Morphogenesis in Myxobacteria. Bull. Math. Biol. 68, 1039–1051 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-006-9113-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-006-9113-9