Citation
Dictyostelium: Evolution, Cell Biology, and the Development of Multicellularity
TL;DR
Slime mold aggregation occurs through cyclic AMP signaling
Foundational text on the cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum, which serves as the chapter's opening example of distributed control architecture. The organism's ability to transition from thousands of independent cells to a coordinated multicellular structure through purely local signaling demonstrates how complex collective behavior can emerge without central control.
Key Findings from Kessin (2001)
- Slime mold aggregation occurs through cyclic AMP signaling
- Individual cells respond to local chemical gradients
- Multicellular coordination emerges without central controller
- Cell differentiation occurs through position-dependent local interactions