INVESTIGADORES
MILLÁN RaÚl Daniel
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Reverse engineering the euglenoid movement
Autor/es:
MARINO ARROYO; LUCA HELTAI; DANIEL MILLÁN; ANTONIO DESIMONE
Lugar:
Providence, RI
Reunión:
Congreso; 50th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of the Engineering Science (SES 2013); 2013
Institución organizadora:
Society of Engineering Science
Resumen:
Euglenids exhibit an unconventional motility strategy amongst
unicellular eukaryotes, consisting of large amplitude highly concerted
deformations of the entire body (euglenoid movement or metaboly). A
plastic cell envelope called pellicle mediates these deformations. We
examine quantitatively video recordings of euglenids executing such
motions, which reveals strokes of high uniformity in shape and pace. We
interpret the observations with a theory for the pellicle kinematics,
providing a precise understanding of the link between local actuation by
pellicle shear and shape control. We find that some euglenids execute
their stroke at constant body volume, while others exhibit deviations of
about 20% from their average volume, challenging current models of low
Reynolds number locomotion. We find that metaboly accomplishes
locomotion at hydrodynamic efficiencies comparable to those of ciliates
and flagellates. Our results suggest new quantitative experiments,
provide insight into the evolutionary history of euglenids, and suggest
that the pellicle may serve as a model for engineered active surfaces
with applications in micro-fluidics.