Alladi Ramakrishnan Hall

Spatiotemporal orders in the realm of biology and chemistry

Pushpita Ghosh

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad

Emergence of spatiotemporal orders under far-from-equilibrium condition is a fundamental and ubiquitous process in natural systems. The occurrence of spatial orders in the form of stationary and non-stationary spatial patterns is quite pervasive in the context of chemical and biological systems. Underpinning of the phenomena of self-organization is not only important to understand but also is a matter of quest to have a control on the dynamical systems.
In the first part of the talk, I will discuss about the spatiotemporal dynamics of microbial biofilm, which is a multicellular community of bacterial cells, adhered to each other and embedded in a matrix of self-produced extracellular polymeric substances. In such a dense environment mechanical interactions among the components become significant. Following an individual-based modeling approach, I will decipher the role of mechanical interactions, governing the spatiotemporal dynamics of a growing bacterial colony, which undergoes a spontaneous phase-separation in presence of self-produce extracellular polymeric substances.
In the second part, we will make a transition from biological to chemical context, where I will discuss about the formation of stationary patterns, propagating waves and formation of drifting spirals in a model Brusselator and Chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction-diffusion system subjected to an external temperature gradient. I will show that use of thermal gradient in a spatially extended system is a practical way to create and modify pattern formation, which opens up possibility to set up new experiments.