Fig. 2

Generic physical effects and agent-like behaviors that contribute to multicellular development in aggregative forms. (Left, top) A selection of generic multicellular properties and their mediators, such as adhesion and extracellular matrix embedment. (Left, bottom) A selection of agent-like effects. Some individual cell behaviors such as oscillation of biochemical state or shape or functional polarity can, when they operate in the multicellular context, mediate global generic effects, like morphogenetic fields in which cell state is coordinated over large distances. (Right) Generic processes can lead to convergent morphologies since they employ the same mesoscale physics despite genetic divergence. Agent-based processes can lead to lineage-specific behaviors and morphological motifs, but also convergent or parallel ones if they act in analogous fashions. See main text for additional examples of generic and agent effects and descriptions of their morphogenetic roles