RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Universal dynamics of biological pattern formation in spatio-temporal morphogen variations
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.03.18.484904
DO 10.1101/2022.03.18.484904
A1 Mohit P. Dalwadi
A1 Philip Pearce
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/09/22/2022.03.18.484904.abstract
AB In biological systems, chemical signals termed morphogens self-organise into patterns that are vital for many physiological processes. As observed by Turing in 1952, these patterns are in a state of continual development, and are usually transitioning from one pattern into another. How do cells robustly decode these spatio-temporal patterns into signals in the presence of confounding effects caused by unpredictable or heterogeneous environments? Here, we answer this question by developing a general theory of pattern formation in spatio-temporal variations of “pre-pattern” morphogens, which determine gene-regulatory network parameters. Through mathematical analysis, we identify universal dynamical regimes that apply to wide classes of biological systems. We apply our theory to two paradigmatic pattern-forming systems, and predict that they are robust with respect to non-physiological morphogen variations. More broadly, our theoretical framework provides a general approach to classify the emergent dynamics of pattern-forming systems based on how the bifurcations in their governing equations are traversed.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.