Living systems construct complex structures through interactions at multiple scales. In this talk, I will explore this idea in two distinct contexts: biomineral lattice formation in sea cucumbers and large-scale self-organization in Arctic brittle star communities.
In the first part, I will discuss miniature skeletal structures in sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea) called ossicles, which exhibit intricate lattice-like morphologies at ~100 µm scales. Through our recent work, we establish juvenile Apostichopus parvimensis as a new organismal system for studying biomineralization and lattice morphogenesis in a physiologically accessible context. By combining 3D micro-CT imaging, live imaging, and transport modeling, we investigate how cytoskeleton-mediated intracellular transport within syncytial cellular networks drives ossicle growth from micron-scale mineral seeds into complex branching architectures confined within membrane-bound spaces. Reduced-order transport models reveal conserved organizational principles underlying structurally diverse ossicle forms and highlight common transport constraints governing their growth dynamics.
In the second part, I will describe extensive brittle star (Ophiuroidea) monospecies assemblages that we observed in the Chukchi Sea during an Arctic expedition. Dense populations of Ophiura sarsii form large, disordered interaction networks through persistent arm-to-arm contacts across the seafloor. Our recent work focuses on how local interactions associated with suspension feeding and food consumption generate emergent large-scale ecological organization. By combining benthic imaging datasets with statistical and network-based analyses, we investigate how collective spatial order emerges from local behavioral interactions. Under specific environmental and interaction regimes, these systems exhibit suppression of density fluctuations at large length scales, consistent with hyperuniformity as a special emergent state.
Pranav Vyas, Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Chicago
Host: Istvan Kovacs
Joan West
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