BIOLOGICAL LATTICE GAS MODELS
Modelling pattern formation and morphogenesis are fundamental problems in biology. One useful approach is lattice gas cellular automata (LGCA) model. This paper reviews several stochastic lattice gas models for pattern formation in myxobacteria fruiting body morphogenesis and vertebrate limb skeletogenesis.
The fruiting body formation in myxobacteria is a complex morphological process that requires the organized, collective effort of tens of thousands of cells. It provides new insight into collective microbial behavior since myxobacteria morphogenic pattern formation is governed by cell-cell interactions rather than chemotaxis. We describe LGCA models for the aggregation stage of the fruiting body formation.
Limb bud precartilage mesenchymal cells in micromass culture undergo chondrogenic pattern formation, which results in the formation of regularly-spaced "islands" of cartilage analogous to the cartilage primordia of the developing limb skeleton. An LGCA model, based on reaction-diffusion coupling and cell-matrix adhesion, is described for this process.
