Stability analysis on a set of calcium-regulated viscoelastic equations (Q1080374)

In recent years some progress has been made in modelling pattern formation and morphogenesis in biological systems in terms of calcium ion regulation of the viscoelastic properties of the cellular cortex. In this paper, linear stability analysis is used on a set of calcium-regulated viscoelastic equations derived by the authors [J. Theor. Biol. 117, p. 79 ff (1985)] for the three-dimensional medium appropriate to regeneration phenomena in the single celled alga Acetabularia mediterranea. The nature of the instabilities is discussed and it is shown how complex patterns arise naturally from the cross-terms linking viscoelastic strain to calcium concentration and concentration gradients.