BPCPPDYSOE21 – wissenschaftliches Programm
Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe
BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 17: Multicellular Systems II
BP 17.1: Vortrag
Dienstag, 23. März 2021, 11:00–11:20, BPb
Encoding memory in biological network hierarchy — •Mirna Kramar1 and Karen Alim1,2 — 1Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany — 2Physik-Department, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany
Remembering sources of food and threat is essential for survival. Even very simple organisms are able to encode sensory information that aids them in tackling complex environments. The slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a giant unicellular eukaryote whose body consists of a network of tubes which undergoes constant reorganization. The mechanism behind the network reorganization upon food encounter has not been explained previously. Here, we identify the imprint the food stimulus leaves on network morphology as memory and show that the network relies on tube growth and flows to encode stimulus information. We hypothesise an encoding mechanism introducing a local release of a chemical agent that affects the mechanical properties of the tubes and spreading through the network by protoplasmic flows. Using a theoretical model, we test our hypothesis and find the model yields a correct prediction of flow-dependent stimulus response. Finally, we investigate the role of network hierarchy in memory encoding and show that the network directly relies on existing tube diameter hierarchy to encode the stimulus. Our findings [1] demonstrate P.polycephalum’s ability to encode and read stored memory and likely open doors to the use of the organism in bioinspired design.
[1] Kramar and Alim, PNAS, in press (2021)