PoC - Physics of Cancer - Annual Symposium
Poster, Friday, 19:00  
Spatial oscillations during reorganization of Physarum polycephalum protoplasmic droplets

Ulrike Strachauer, Marcus J. B. Hauser

Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Institute of Experimental Physics, Biophysics Group, Magdeburg, Germany

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The plasmodium of the slime mould Physarum polycephalum forms a plasmodium consists of a single, multinucleate giant amoeboid cell. This syncytium forms a two-dimensional vein network which extends in search of food. In the veins the protoplasm is transported periodically back and forth by peristaltic pumping.  Protoplasmic droplets can be obtained by puncturing a vein of the plasmodium and extracting protoplasm. Within a few seconds the protoplasmic droplet forms a new cell membrane, and the droplet begins to reorganize itself to a new cell. The reorganization is accompanied by a series of oscillations, which are monitored and analyzed by Karhunen-Loève decomposition of the oscillatory modes. Some of these modes are linked to functional behaviour.
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