Figure 4: Segregation of clonal subtypes in the initial pattern determines stripe intensity.

(a) A stripe-like pattern from a single simulation of the discrete model initialized with agents of two clonal subtypes (black and light grey) in equal proportions (analogous to a balanced mouse aggregation chimera). (b) The axial profile of the agent intensity for the simulation depicted in a reflecting the axial change in the dominant subtype (Methods). (c) Amplitude spectrum from a DFFT of the clonal signal (shown in b). (d) Data from the simulation in a plotted as individual clones. Increasing the number of clonal subtypes in the initial conditions from 2 to 21 removes the appearance of the stripe-like pattern and reveals the extent of mixing of the individual subclones. (e) A simulation in which the initial pattern containing two clonal subtypes has been deliberately well segregated in the initial conditions (black and light grey cells, shown in inset). Segregation of the initial subpopulations promotes dorsoventral stripe formation. (f) A simulation in which the initial pattern containing two clonal subtypes has been deliberately evenly mixed in the initial conditions (black and light grey cells, shown in inset). Even mixing of the initial subpopulations inhibits dorsoventral stripe formation, however areas that contain a single dominant clonal subtype are still present. Each plot in a,d,e and f represents one side of the embryo extending from the dorsal most aspect on the left to the ventrum on the right. Scale bars, 500 μm in all cases.