Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
Trends Genet. 2015 Feb;31(2):88-96. doi: 10.1016/j.tig.2014.11.005. Epub 2014 Dec 24.
More than half a century ago, Alan Turing postulated that pigment patterns may arise from a mechanism that could be mathematically modeled based on the diffusion of two substances that interact with each other. Over the past 15 years, the molecular and genetic tools to verify this prediction have become available. Here, we review experimental studies aimed at identifying the mechanism underlying pigment pattern formation in zebrafish. Extensive molecular genetic studies in this model organism have revealed the interactions between the pigment cells that are responsible for the patterns. The mechanism discovered is substantially different from that predicted by the mathematical model, but it retains the property of 'local activation and long-range inhibition', a necessary condition for Turing pattern formation. Although some of the molecular details of pattern formation remain to be elucidated, current evidence confirms that the underlying mechanism is mathematically equivalent to the Turing mechanism.
半个多世纪以前，艾伦·图灵推测，色素模式可能源于一种机制，这种机制可以基于两种相互作用的物质的扩散，用数学模型来表示。在过去的 15 年中，验证这一预测的分子和遗传工具已经出现。在这里，我们回顾了旨在确定斑马鱼色素图案形成机制的实验研究。在这个模式生物中进行的广泛的分子遗传学研究揭示了负责图案形成的色素细胞之间的相互作用。所发现的机制与数学模型所预测的机制有很大的不同，但它保留了“局部激活和长程抑制”的特性，这是图灵模式形成的必要条件。虽然图案形成的一些分子细节仍有待阐明，但目前的证据证实，潜在的机制在数学上等同于图灵机制。
