Growth patterns of the slime mold Physarum on a nonuniform substrate

The Myxomycete Physarum polycephalum has been grown on nonuniform substrates, where the nutrients were confined in separated drops of agar medium. Spatial and temporal aspects of the resulting growth structures were studied by time-lapse Video techniques and analyzed using image processing software. The growth process on a linear substrate of drops can be described in terms of a searching phase alternating with a feeding phase. On a linear array of drops; the Physarum advanced uniformly after an initial lag phase. On a two-dimensional drop substrate two different growth regimes could be distinguished: branched growth was observed on substrates with small drop diameters and compact growth, similar to growth on uniform substrates, was observed on substrates with larger drop diameters. The drop size is a crucial parameter that mediates characteristic plasmodial morphologies. A crossover from branched to compact growth was observed in some of the experiments. A spatial correlation function was used that could quantitatively distinguish between the different growth regimes.