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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 32: Statistical Physics in Biological Systems III (organised by BP)

DY 32.2: Talk

Thursday, March 17, 2011, 10:45–11:00, ZEU 260

Transport efficiency governs the morphology of the plasmodial arterial network in slime moulds — •Werner Baumgarten and Marcus Hauser — Abteilung Biophysik, Institut für Experimentelle Physik, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany

The plasmodium of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a single multi-nucleate giant amoeboid cell. It forms a characteristic two-dimensional arterial network, where the apical end of the plasmodium extends to search for new food sources, while the dense network of tubular arteries is in charge of transport of protoplasm throughout the giant cell. The tubular network forms a regular graph [1,2] and displays characteristic distributions of the lengths, widths, and surface area of the tubes [2]. With time, the originally dense network coarsens as tiny arterial segments are deleted. Taking into account the laminar flow inside the arterial network [3], the conductivity and drag inside the arteries are estimated. From these data it will be shown that the evolution of the network strongly depends on the efficiency of the protoplasmic transport in the arteries.

[1] W. Baumgarten, M.J.B. Hauser, J. Comp. Interdisc. Sci. 2010, 1, 241-249.

[2] W. Baumgarten, T. Ueda, M.J.B. Hauser, Phys. Rev. E 2010, 82, 046113.

[3] N. Kamiya, Protoplasma 1950, 39, 344-357.