The neural origins of shell structure and pattern in aquatic mollusks
- aBiophysics Graduate Group and Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, 216 Wellman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720; and
- bDepartment of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, 512 Thackeray, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
-
Edited by Eve Marder, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, and approved February 13, 2009 (received for review October 20, 2008)
Abstract
We present a model to explain how the neurosecretory system of aquatic mollusks generates their diversity of shell structures and pigmentation patterns. The anatomical and physiological basis of this model sets it apart from other models used to explain shape and pattern. The model reproduces most known shell shapes and patterns and accurately predicts how the pattern alters in response to environmental disruption and subsequent repair. Finally, we connect the model to a larger class of neural models.
Footnotes
- 1To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: goster{at}nature.berkeley.edu
-
Author contributions: G.O. designed research; A.B. performed research; B.E. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; A.B., B.E., and G.O. analyzed data; and A.B. wrote the paper.
-
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
-
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
-
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0810311106/DCSupplemental.
-
↵* The waves probably originate from an infinite dimensional saddle-node bifurcation, but we have not proven this here.
