Person:

Perez-Mercader, Juan

We compare spot patterns generated by Turing mechanisms with those generated by replication cascades, in a model one-dimensional reaction-diffusion system. We determine the stability region of spot solutions in parameter space as a function of a natural control parameter (feed-rate) where degenerate patterns with different numbers of spots coexist for a fixed feed-rate. While it is possible to generate identical patterns via both mechanisms, we show that replication cascades lead to a wider choice of pattern profiles that can be selected through a tuning of the feed-rate, exploiting hysteresis and directionality effects of the different pattern pathways.

Oscillating chemical reactions are common in biological systems and they also occur in artificial non-biological systems. Generally, these reactions are subject to random fluctuations in environmental conditions which translate into fluctuations in the values of physical variables, for example, temperature. We formulate a mathematical model for a nonisothermal minimal chemical oscillator containing a single negative feedback loop and study numerically the effects of stochastic fluctuations in temperature in the absence of any deterministic limit cycle or periodic forcing. We show that noise in temperature can induce sustained limit cycle oscillations with a relatively narrow frequency distribution and some characteristic frequency. These properties differ significantly depending on the noise correlation. Here, we have explored white and colored (correlated) noise. A plot of the characteristic frequency of the noise induced oscillations as a function of the correlation exponent shows a maximum, therefore indicating the existence of autonomous stochastic resonance, i.e. coherence resonance.

Giant micrometer sized vesicles are of obvious interest to the natural sciences as well as engineering, having potential application in fields ranging from drug delivery to synthetic biology. Their formation often requires elaborate experimental techniques and attempts to obtain giant vesicles from chemical media in a one-pot fashion have so far led to much smaller nanoscale structures. Here we show that a tailored medium undergoing controlled radical polymerization is capable of forming giant polymer vesicles. Using a protocol which allows for an aqueous reaction under mild conditions, we observe the macroscale consequences of amphiphilic polymer synthesis and the resulting molecular self-assembly using fluorescence microscopy. The polymerization process is photoinitiated by blue light granting complete control of the reaction, including on the microscope stage. The self-assembly process leads to giant vesicles with radii larger than 10 microns, exhibiting several emergent properties, including periodic growth and collapse as well as phototaxis.

Genetic mutations, infection by parasites or symbionts, and other events can transform the way that an organism’s internal state changes in response to a given environment. We use a minimalistic computational model to support an argument that by behaving “interoceptively,” i.e. responding to internal state rather than to the environment, organisms can be robust to these organisational-transformations. We suggest that the robustness of interoceptive behaviour is due, in part, to the asymmetrical relationship between an organism and its environment, where the latter more substantially influences the former than vice versa. This relationship means that interoceptive behaviour can respond to the environment, the internal state and the interaction between the two, while exteroceptive behaviour can only respond to the environment. We discuss the possibilities that (i) interoceptive behaviour may play an important role of facilitating adaptive evolution (especially in the early evolution of primitive life) and (ii) interoceptive mechanisms could prove useful in efforts to create more robust synthetic life-forms.

Oscillatory phenomena are ubiquitous in Nature. The ability of a large population of coupled oscillators to synchronize constitutes an important mechanism to express information and establish communication among members. To understand such phenomena, models and experimental realizations of globally coupled oscillators have proven to be invaluable in settings as varied as chemical, biological and physical systems. A variety of rich dynamical behavior has been uncovered, although usually in the context of a single state of synchronization or lack thereof. Through the experimental and numerical study of a large population of discrete chemical oscillators, here we report on the unexpected discovery of a new phenomenon revealing the existence of dynamically distinct synchronized states reflecting different degrees of communication. Specifically, we discover a novel large-amplitude super-synchronized state separated from the conventionally reported synchronized and quiescent states through an unusual sharp jump transition when sampling the strong coupling limit. Our results assume significance for further elucidating globally coherent phenomena, such as in neuropathologies, bacterial cell colonies, social systems and semiconductor lasers.