Related papers: Supplementary information for "Selective sweeps in…
Microbial colonies are experimental model systems for studying the colonization of new territory by biological species through range expansion. We study a generalization of the two-species Eden model, which incorporates local…
This paper presents an interesting experimental example of voter-model statistics in biology. In recent work on mouse tail-skin, where proliferating cells are confined to a two-dimensional layer, we showed that cells proliferate and…
Spatial extent is a complicating factor in mathematical biology. The possibility that an action at point A cannot immediately affect what happens at point B creates the opportunity for spatial nonuniformity. This nonuniformity must change…
Most organisms grow in space, whether they are viruses spreading within a host tissue or invasive species colonizing a new continent. Evolution typically selects for higher expansion rates during spatial growth, but it has been suggested…
This paper introduces a reaction-diffusion-chemotaxis model for bacterial aggregation patterns on the surface of thin agar plates. It is based on the non-linear degenerate cross diffusion model proposed by Kawasaki et al. (J. of Theor.…
The modelling of evolutionary game dynamics in finite populations requires microscopic processes that determine how strategies spread. The exact details of these processes are often chosen without much further consideration. Different types…
Increasing rates of global trade and travel, as well as changing climatic patterns, have led to more frequent outbreaks of plant disease epidemics worldwide. Mathematical modelling is a key tool in predicting where and how these new threats…
Directed Percolation (DP) is a classic model for nonequilibrium phase transitions into a single absorbing state (fixation). It has been extensively studied by analytical and numerical techniques in diverse contexts. Recently, DP has…
Mathematical models describing the spatial spreading and invasion of populations of biological cells are often developed in a continuum modelling framework using reaction-diffusion equations. While continuum models based on linear diffusion…
We consider a system of two competing populations in two-dimensional heterogeneous environments. The populations are assumed to move horizontally and vertically with different probabilities, but are otherwise identical. We regard these…
Bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) exhibit biased motion if kept in a spatially non-uniform chemical environment. Here, we bring out unique time-dependent characteristics of bacterial chemotaxis, in response to a diffusing spatial…
Interactions between neighboring cells are essential for generating or refining patterns in a number of biological systems. We propose a discrete filtering approach to predict how networks of cells modulate spatially varying input signals…
Many complex ecosystems, such as those formed by multiple microbial taxa, involve intricate interactions amongst various sub-communities. The most basic relationships are frequently modeled as co-occurrence networks in which the nodes…
Complex mixing and magnetic field generation occurs within stellar interiors particularly where there is a strong shear flow. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of these processes, it is necessary to study the complex dynamics of shear…
Advances in cellular imaging technologies, especially those based on fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) now allow detailed visualization of the spatial organization of human or bacterial cells. Quantifying this spatial organization…
Growth drives cellular dynamics in dense aggregates including bacterial colonies, developing tissues, and tumors. We investigate the underlying physical principles emerging from the interplay of growth, steric repulsion, and motility in a…
Most conspicuous organisms are multicellular and most multicellular organisms develop somatic cells to perform specific, non-reproductive tasks. The ubiquity of this division of labor suggests that it is highly advantageous. In this paper,…
We present new theoretical and empirical results on the probability distributions of species persistence times in natural ecosystems. Persistence times, defined as the timespans occurring between species' colonization and local extinction…
Species-rich communities, such as the microbiota or microbial ecosystems, provide key functions for human health and climatic resilience. Increasing effort is being dedicated to design experimental protocols for selecting community-level…
In addressing the origins of Darwinian evolution, recent experimental work has been focussed on the discovery of simple physical effects which would provide a relevant selective advantage to protocells competing with each other for a…