Agladze K, Budriene L, Ivanitsky G, Krinsky V, Shakhbazyan V, Tsyganov M
Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia.
Proc Biol Sci. 1993 Aug 23;253(1337):131-5. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1993.0092.
The occurrence of spatially ordered structures plays an important role in biology (examples: morphogenesis, ecosystems, dynamics of populations, etc.). Turing proposed a reaction-diffusion process that is the basis for most theoretical studies of stationary biological pattern formation. Now, when Turing structures are obtained in experiments (40 years after Turing's publication), it is interesting to discover whether Turing structures are the only mechanism used by nature in biological pattern formation. In microbial growth, we have found experimental evidence of an alternative to the Turing model that is based on waves displayed in excitable media. In studies of Escherichia coli populations, we observed that interacting taxis waves create motionless patterns. Taxis waves consuming two different substrates (serine and aspartic acid) were involved. Taxis waves consuming serine stop when they collide. However, those supported by consumption of aspartic were initiated at the collision line. Colliding and annihilating in turn, the waves give rise to stationary pattern formation, and wave theory provides an alternative to the classical Turing mechanism.
空间有序结构的出现在生物学中起着重要作用（例如：形态发生、生态系统、种群动态等）。图灵提出了一种反应扩散过程，这是大多数关于静态生物模式形成的理论研究的基础。如今，当在实验中获得图灵结构时（在图灵发表相关成果40年后），探究图灵结构是否是自然界在生物模式形成中使用的唯一机制就变得很有趣。在微生物生长过程中，我们发现了一种基于可兴奋介质中显示的波的图灵模型替代方案的实验证据。在大肠杆菌种群研究中，我们观察到相互作用的趋化波会形成静止模式。涉及消耗两种不同底物（丝氨酸和天冬氨酸）的趋化波。消耗丝氨酸的趋化波在碰撞时会停止。然而，由天冬氨酸消耗支持的趋化波在碰撞线处启动。这些波依次碰撞并消失，从而导致静止模式的形成，并且波动理论为经典的图灵机制提供了一种替代方案。
