  The replication and differentiation of spots in reaction diffusion equations
are studied by extending the Gray-Scott model with self-replicating spots to
include many degrees of freedom needed to model systems with many chemicals. By
examining many possible reaction networks, the behavior of this model is
categorized into three types: replication of homogeneous fixed spots,
replication of oscillatory spots, and differentiation from `m ultipotent
spots'. These multipotent spots either replicate or differentiate into other
types of spots with different fixed-point dynamics, and as a result, an
inhomogeneous pattern of spots is formed. This differentiation process of spots
is analyzed in terms of the loss of chemical diversity and decrease of the
local Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy. The relevance of the results to developmental
cell biology and stem cells is also discussed.
