  A generalised Schnakenberg reaction-diffusion system with source and loss
terms and a spatially dependent coefficient of the nonlinear term is studied
both numerically and analytically in two spatial dimensions. The system has
been proposed as a model of hair initiation in the epidermal cells of plant
roots. Specifically the model captures the kinetics of a small G-protein ROP,
which can occur in active and inactive forms, and whose activation is believed
to be mediated by a gradient of the plant hormone auxin. Here the model is made
more realistic with the inclusion of a transverse co-ordinate. Localised
stripe-like solutions of active ROP occur for high enough total auxin
concentration and lie on a complex bifurcation diagram of single and
multi-pulse solutions. Transverse stability computations, confirmed by
numerical simulation show that, apart from a boundary stripe, these 1D
solutions typically undergo a transverse instability into spots. The spots so
formed typically drift and undergo secondary instabilities such as spot
replication. A novel 2D numerical continuation analysis is performed that shows
the various stable hybrid spot-like states can coexist. The parameter values
studied lead to a natural singularly perturbed, so-called semi-strong
interaction regime. This scaling enables an analytical explanation of the
initial instability, by describing the dispersion relation of a certain
non-local eigenvalue problem. The analytical results are found to agree
favourably with the numerics. Possible biological implications of the results
are discussed.
