PUBLICATION
Mathematically guided approaches to distinguish models of periodic patterning
- Authors
- Hiscock, T.W., Megason, S.G.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-150319-9
- Date
- 2015
- Source
- Development (Cambridge, England) 142: 409-19 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Megason, Sean
- Keywords
- Mathematical biology, Pattern formation, Periodic patterning, Pigment pattern, Reaction-diffusion, Turing
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Body Patterning/genetics
- Body Patterning/physiology*
- Developmental Biology/methods*
- Diffusion
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/physiology*
- Hair Follicle/embryology
- Mice
- Models, Biological*
- Skin Pigmentation/physiology*
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 25605777 Full text @ Development
Citation
Hiscock, T.W., Megason, S.G. (2015) Mathematically guided approaches to distinguish models of periodic patterning. Development (Cambridge, England). 142:409-19.
Abstract
How periodic patterns are generated is an 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.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping