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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 14: Chemotaxis

BP 14.1: Talk

Tuesday, March 27, 2007, 14:30–14:45, H44

Chemotaxis of Sperm Cells — •Benjamin Friedrich and Frank Jülicher — Max-Planck-Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Nöthnitzer Straße 38, Dresden

Sperm cells swim towards the egg propelled by a flagellum which beats regularly. In many species sperm show chemotaxis, i.e. they move upwards a gradient of chemoattractant molecules released by the egg. Based on recent experiments on sea urchin sperm which indicate that the geometry of swimming trajectories is controlled by a signaling system in the sperm flagellum [1], we present a theoretical description of sperm chemotaxis. We discuss swimming trajectories in two and three dimensions in the presence of a chemoattractant source. From this discussion, we derive the necessary properties of the signaling system which ensure reliable motion towards the source.

[1] B. Kaupp et al.: NCB 5,109 (2003)