Wilson, Laurence George orcid.org/0000-0001-6659-6001 and Bees, Martin Alan (2025) Asymmetries in the three-dimensional beat of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagella revealed by holographic microscopy. Journal of Cell Science. jcs263946. ISSN: 0021-9533
Abstract
We present the first three-dimensional, time-resolved imaging of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagellar waveform. This freshwater alga is a model system for eukaryotic flagella that allow cells to move and pump fluid. During the power stroke, the flagella show rotational symmetry about the cell's centre line, but during the recovery stroke they display mirror symmetry about the same axis. Furthermore, and in contrast to the usual assumptions about beat planarity, we show a subtle rotational motion of the flagella at the initiation of the power stroke, which is mechanically rectified into a quasi-planar mode. We apply resistive force theory to infer the swimming speed and rotational speed of the cells, when a force-free configuration is approximated using a cell on a micropipette, showing good agreement with experimental results on freely swimming cells.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025. Published by The Company of Biologists. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Mathematics (York) |
Date Deposited: | 21 Aug 2025 14:40 |
Last Modified: | 02 Oct 2025 14:50 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.263946 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1242/jcs.263946 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:230628 |