Abstract
WHEN their supply of bacterial food becomes exhausted, some species of cellular slime mould seem to spread evenly over the area they occupy and later begin to aggregate into several fairly regularly spaced clusters. The aggregate typically migrates as a slug, then erects a fruiting body containing spores which germinate when conditions are favourable1. What causes these seemingly independent organisms to engage in such collective behaviour ? The answer to this question could provide important clues to the understanding of other morphogenetic developments.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonner, J. T., The Cellular Slime Molds, second ed. (Princeton University Press, 1967).
Konijn, T. M., Van de Meene, J. G., Bonner, J. T., and Barkley, D. S., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 58, 1152 (1968).
Keller, E. F., and Segel, L. A., J. Theoret. Biol., 26, 399 (1970).
Ashworth, J. M., and Sackin, M. J., Nature, 224, 817 (1969).
Shaffer, B. M., Quart. J. Microsc. Sci., 98, 377 (1957).
Bonner, J. T., Barkley, D. S., Hall, T. M., Konijn, J. W., Mason, J. W., O'Keefe, G., and Wolfe, P. B., Develop. Biol., 20, 72 (1969).
Konijn, T. M., Biol. Bull., 134, 298 (1968).
Platt, J., Science, 133, 1766 (1961).
Turing, A. M., Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., B, 237, 37 (1952).
Prigogine, I., Lefever, R., Goldbeter, A., and Herschkowitz-Kaufman, M., Nature, 223, 913 (1969).
Thom, R., Stabilité Structurelle et Morphogenèse (Benjamin, New York, 1969).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
KELLER, E., SEGEL, L. Conflict between Positive and Negative Feedback as an Explanation for the Initiation of Aggregation in Slime Mould Amoebae. Nature 227, 1365–1366 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2271365a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2271365a0
This article is cited by
-
The determination of spatial pattern inDictyostelium discoideum
Journal of Biosciences (1992)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.