Kei Inouye
Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606 Japan
(Received July 1, 1990, Accepted November 1, 1990)
Keywords: Morphogenesis, Cellular slime mould, Dictyostelium Reaction-diffusion model
Abstract. The process of fruiting body formation in the cellular slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum provides an ideal model system in which to study the generation of form in multicellular organisms. In this article, we focus on the mechanism that controls the formation of the stalk of the fruiting body. We first examine the factors known to influence cell differentiation during this process. We then review some models that have been proposed to account for the fruiting body morphogenesis. Finally a new model is proposed for the mechanism of a spatio-temporal control of cell differentiation during fruiting body construction.