Practice question

Upon grex formation, amoebae initially equivalent diverge into two major lineages arranged along anteroposterior axis, with about twenty percent anterior prestalk cells expressing extracellular matrix genes ecmA and ecmB and eighty percent posterior prespore cells expressing spore coat proteins. Prestalk cells later vacuolate and undergo programmed death forming cellulose stalk, while prespore cells mature into viable spores. Fate decision integrates cell cycle position at starvation, cAMP concentration, DIF-1 polyketide, and ammonia gradients. This binary differentiation parallels somatic versus germ separation, providing model for pattern formation without growth.