Murray, J. D. and Kulesa, P. M. (1996) On a dynamic reaction-diffusion mechanism: The spatial patterning of teeth primordia in the alligator. Journal of the Chemical Society. Faraday Transactions, 92 (16). pp. 2927-2932. ISSN 0956-5000. http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20120208-152311088
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It is now well established both theoretically and, more recently, experimentally, that steady-state spatial chemical concentration patterns can be formed by a number of specific reaction–diffusion systems. Reaction–diffusion models have been widely applied to biological pattern formation problems. Here we propose a model mechanism for the initiation and spatial positioning of teeth primordia in the alligator, Alligator mississippiensis, which, from a reaction–diffusion theory, introduces, among other things, a new element, namely the effect of domain growth on dynamic spatial pattern formation. Detailed embryological studies by Westergaard and Ferguson (B. Westergaard and M. W. J. Ferguson, J. Zool. Lond., 1986, 210, 575; 1987, 212, 191; Am. J. Anatomy, 1990, 187, 393) show that jaw growth plays a crucial role in the developmental patterning of the tooth initiation process. Based on biological data we develop a reaction–diffusion mechanism, which crucially includes domain growth. The model can reproduce the spatial pattern development of the first seven teeth primordia in the lower half jaw of A. mississippiensis. The results for the precise spatio temporal sequence compare well with detailed developmental experiments.
|Additional Information:||© 1996 Royal Society of Chemistry. Received 22nd February, 1996. This work was in part supported by grants DMS-9106848 and DMS-9500766 from the U.S. National Science Foundation. P.M.K. would like to acknowledge the kind support of the Sloan Center at Caltech.|
|Official Citation:||On a dynamic reaction–diffusion mechanism: the spatial patterning of teeth primordia in the alligator J. D. Murray and P. M. Kulesa J. Chem. Soc., Faraday Trans., 1996, 92, 2927-2932 DOI: 10.1039/FT9969202927|
|Usage Policy:||No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.|
|Deposited By:||Ruth Sustaita|
|Deposited On:||09 Feb 2012 16:40|
|Last Modified:||26 Dec 2012 14:49|
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