Birhythmicity in a model for the cyclic AMP signalling system of the slime mold <i>Dictyostelium discoideum</i>

Abstract

We demonstrate the coexistence of two simultaneously stable periodic regimes in a model based on receptor desensitization for the cyclic AMP signalling system of the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum . These results provide the first example of autonomous birhythmicity in a biochemical model closely related to experimental observations. Whereas the transition from one stable mode of oscillations to the other can be elicited by suprathreshold stimuli, the two periodic regimes differ in their sensitivity to perturbations. That multiple oscillations occur in a model based on a single feedback loop suggests that the conditions for birhythmicity are widely satisfied in biological systems.