Dresden 2014 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 17: Microswimmers (joint DY/BP)
BP 17.8: Vortrag
Dienstag, 1. April 2014, 11:30–11:45, ZEU 146
Cell body rocking is dominant mechanism for flagellar synchronization in a swimming alga — Veikko Geyer1, Frank Julicher2, Jonathon Howard1, and •Benjamin Friedrich2 — 1Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology and Genetics — 2Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems
The eukaryotic flagellum is a best-seller of nature: These slender cell appendages propel sperm and many other microswimmers, including disease-causing protists. In mammalian airways and the oviduct, collections of flagella beat in synchrony to pump fluids efficiently. Here, we report on theory and experiment that elucidate a mechanism of flagellar synchronization in the model organism Chlamydomonas, a green algal cell that swims with two flagella like a breaststroke swimmer. Our analysis shows how synchronization arises by a coupling of swimming and flagellar beating and characterizes an exemplary force-velocity relationship of the flagellar beat. Any perturbation from the synchronized state causes the cell body to rock, which changes the hydrodynamic friction forces acting on the flagella and thus their speed, which restores their synchronization.
Geyer et al.: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 2013.