Shape transitions of high-genus fluid vesicles

Abstract

The morphologies of genus-2 to -8 fluid vesicles are studied by using dynamically triangulated membrane simulations with area-difference elasticity. It is revealed that the alignments of the membrane pores alter the vesicle shapes and the types of shape transitions for the genus $g\ge 3$. At a high reduced volume, a stomatocyte with a circular alignment of $g+1$ pores continuously transforms into a discocyte with a line of $g$ pores with increasing intrinsic area difference. In contrast, at a low volume, a stomatocyte transforms into a ($g+1$)-hedral shape and subsequently exhibits a discrete phase transition to a discocyte.

6 pages, 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Construction of nuclear envelope shape by a high-genus vesicle with pore-size constraint