cAMP waves in Dictyostelium territories

The cover illustration is a stylized image, with a field of view of several millimetres, of cyclic AMP waves in populations of the single-cell micro-organism Dictyostelium discoideum on the surface of agar. These waves are `target patterns' driven by pacemaker cells at their centres. Targets compete with rotating spirals during the stage of the life cycle of Dictyostelium in which travelling chemical waves induce chemotaxis towards wave centres and result in multicellular structures. We discuss recent progress in the study of this competition.

[1]  John Tyler Bonner,et al.  The Cellular Slime Molds. , 1967 .

[2]  A Goldbeter,et al.  Desynchronization of cells on the developmental path triggers the formation of spiral waves of cAMP during Dictyostelium aggregation. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  A Goldbeter,et al.  A Model Based on Receptor Desensitization for Cyclic AMP Signaling in Dictyostelium Cells. , 1987, Biophysical journal.

[4]  L. Tsimring,et al.  Positive genetic feedback governs cAMP spiral wave formation in Dictyostelium. , 1996, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[5]  E. Meron.  Pattern formation in excitable media , 1992 .

[6]  J. Tyson,et al.  Cyclic AMP waves during aggregation of Dictyostelium amoebae. , 1989, Development.

[7]  John Tyler Bonner,et al.  The Cellular Slime Molds , 1967 .

[8]  E. Cox,et al.  Selection for spiral waves in the social amoebae Dictyostelium. , 1997, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[9]  A Goldbeter,et al.  Modeling oscillations and waves of cAMP in Dictyostelium discoideum cells. , 1998, Biophysical chemistry.

[10]  William F. Loomis,et al.  Dictyostelium discoideum: A Developmental System , 1977 .

[11]  Levine,et al.  Spiral competition in three-component excitable media. , 1996, Physical review letters.

[12]  Martin Falcke,et al.  Pattern selection by gene expression in Dictyostelium discoideum , 1998 .

[13]  A Goldbeter,et al.  Control of developmental transitions in the cyclic AMP signalling system of Dictyostelium discoideum. , 1980, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[14]  Experimental Determination of the Dispersion Relation for Spiral Waves. , 1996, Physical review letters.

[15]  E. Cox,et al.  Origin and evolution of circular waves and spirals in Dictyostelium discoideum territories. , 1996, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  James P. Keener,et al.  Rotating Spiral Waves Created by Geometry , 1994, Science.

[17]  Cox,et al.  Competing patterns of signaling activity in dictyostelium discoideum. , 1996, Physical review letters.

[18]  P. Devreotes,et al.  Adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate waves in Dictyostelium discoideum: a demonstration by isotope dilution--fluorography. , 1981, Science.