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Multiscale biological systems converge toward universal topology

Daria S. Roshal1, Renaud Lebrun2,3, Kirill Fedorenko1, Ivan Golushko1, Sergei B. Rochal1,*, and Stephen Baghdiguian2,†

  • *Contact author: rochal_s@yahoo.fr
  • †Contact author: stephen.baghdiguian@umontpellier.fr
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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033151 – Published 14 August, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x72t-bsh4

Abstract

As has been known for almost 20 years, topological characteristics of polygonal proliferative epithelial cells of various animal and plant species are universal. Here, we address the question of whether this universality paradigm is applicable to the level of colonial organisms, i.e., at a significantly higher level of life organization than cell populations. By comparing the cellular structure of the epithelium with the arrangement of individual polyps in coral colonies, we discover common topological patterns at distinct levels of life structuring. We hypothesize that the mechanism behind this universality is a repulsion between structural units limited by a certain critical distance. By minimizing the corresponding repulsive energy, we produce packings, which are similar to the epithelial and colonial systems in the distribution of structural units by both the number of their neighbors and their area. The surprising analogies between the systems together with the developed theoretical approach could provide an efficient tool for further studies on morphogenesis, development, and evolution of living systems.

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Phys. Rev. Research 7, 033151– Published 14 August, 2025
  • Received 30 April 2025
  • Accepted 23 July 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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