CoMPLEX, University College London, , Gower Street, London, UK.
J R Soc Interface. 2013 Apr 3;10(83):20130067. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0067. Print 2013 Jun 6.
Unicellular algae called diatoms morph biomineral compounds into tough exoskeletons via complex intracellular processes about which there is much to be learned. These exoskeletons feature a rich variety of structures from submicroscale to milliscale, many that have not been reproduced in vitro. In order to help understand this complex miniature morphogenesis, here we introduce and analyse a simple model of biomineral kinetics, focusing on the exoskeleton's submicroscopic patterned planar structures called pore occlusions. The model reproduces most features of these pore occlusions by retuning just one parameter, thereby indicating what physio-biochemical mechanisms could sufficiently explain morphogenesis at the submicroscopic scale: it is sufficient to identify a mechanism of lateral negative feedback on the biomineral reaction kinetics. The model is nonlinear and stochastic; it is an extended version of the threshold voter model. Its mean-field equation provides a simple and, as far as the authors are aware, new way of mapping out the spatial patterns produced by lateral inhibition and variants thereof.
单细胞藻类硅藻通过复杂的细胞内过程将生物矿物化合物转化为坚韧的外骨骼，关于这些过程，还有很多需要了解。这些外骨骼具有丰富多样的结构，从亚微观尺度到毫微尺度，其中许多结构在体外都无法复制。为了帮助理解这种复杂的微型形态发生，我们在这里引入并分析了一个简单的生物矿化动力学模型，重点研究外骨骼的亚微观图案平面结构，称为孔堵塞。该模型通过仅调整一个参数即可再现这些孔堵塞的大多数特征，从而表明哪些生理生化机制可以充分解释亚微观尺度的形态发生：足以确定对生物矿化反应动力学的横向负反馈机制。该模型是非线性和随机的；它是阈值投票模型的扩展版本。其平均场方程提供了一种简单的方法（据作者所知，这是一种新方法）来映射出侧向抑制及其变体产生的空间模式。
