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  • Title: Spontaneous emergence of large-scale cell cycle synchronization in amoeba colonies.
    Author: Segota I, Boulet L, Franck D, Franck C.
    Journal: Phys Biol; 2014 Jun; 11(3):036001. PubMed ID: 24732749.
    Abstract:
    Unicellular eukaryotic amoebae Dictyostelium discoideum are generally believed to grow in their vegetative state as single cells until starvation, when their collective aspect emerges and they differentiate to form a multicellular slime mold. While major efforts continue to be aimed at their starvation-induced social aspect, our understanding of population dynamics and cell cycle in the vegetative growth phase has remained incomplete. Here we show that cell populations grown on a substrate spontaneously synchronize their cell cycles within several hours. These collective population-wide cell cycle oscillations span millimeter length scales and can be completely suppressed by washing away putative cell-secreted signals, implying signaling by means of a diffusible growth factor or mitogen. These observations give strong evidence for collective proliferation behavior in the vegetative state.
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