  A big challenge in current biology is to understand the exact
self-organization mechanism underlying complex multi-physics coupling
developmental processes. With multiscale computations of from subcellular gene
expressions to cell population dynamics that is based on first principles, we
show that cell cycles can self-organize into periodic stripes in the
development of E. coli populations from one single cell, relying on the moving
graded nutrient concentration profile, which provides directing positional
information for cells to keep their cycle phases in place. Resultantly, the
statistical cell cycle distribution within the population is observed to
collapse to a universal function and shows a scale invariance. Depending on the
radial distribution mode of genetic oscillations in cell populations, a
transition between gene patterns is achieved. When an inhibitor-inhibitor gene
network is subsequently activated by a gene-oscillatory network, cell
populations with zebra stripes can be established, with the positioning
precision of cell-fate-specific domains influenced by cells' speed of free
motions. Such information may provide important implications for understanding
relevant dynamic processes of multicellular systems, such as biological
development.
