Mathematical Biology

Speaker: 
Grace Ann Mclaughlin
Speaker Affiliation: 
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

April 6, 2022

Zoom - contact Katie Faulkner for link
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2
Canada

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Abstract: 

Multinucleate cells are common in biology, with examples including muscle cells, placenta, and fungi. Despite this, many aspects of their cell biology are not well understood. Dividing nuclei residing in a common cytosol would be expected to synchronize, as the oscillating levels of cell cycle regulators from each nucleus should in theory entrain neighbors. However, in the multinucleate fungus Ashbya Gossypii, spatially neighboring nuclei have been observed to divide out of sync. Here we mathematically model Ashbya nuclei as a dynamically growing system of coupled phase oscillators to determine possible mechanisms that could lead to asynchronous division. We study the effects of mobility, cytosolic compartmentalization, inhibitory signals, and noise on transient phase dynamics. To compare the model with experimental results, we develop a nuclear tracking pipeline with the aim of tracking nuclei during bypassing events, identifying nuclear division, and linking nuclei into hyphae. Initial results suggest a combination of locally and globally acting mechanisms might be at play leading to the observed dynamics in Ashbya.

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