Diffusion effects in calcium-regulated strain fields.

The Goodwin-Trainor equations for cellular morphogenesis, based on calcium ion regulation of the visco-elastic properties of the cellular cortex, are generalized to the situation where the concentration of calcium ions (free plus bound) is allowed to change locally. A stability analysis is presented which shows that the generalized equations are also stable against perturbations at low and high wave lengths and may, for certain parameter values, develop instabilities at intermediate wave lengths.