Max Planck researchers in Dresden explain the flagellar
synchronisation of swimming algae
The beating of flagella is one of the basic principles of
movement in the cellular cosmos. However, up to now, scientists were unsure as
to how the movements of several of these small cellular appendages are
synchronised. Dresden-based researchers from the Max Planck Institute of
Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics and the MPI for the Physics of Complex
Systems have now succeeded in demonstrating how the green alga Chlamydomonas
synchronises the movements of its two flagella using a resourceful rocking movement.
To do this, the researchers started by developing a theoretical model which
they were then able to substantiate in experiments with the microscopic
breaststroke swimmers: when the two flagella lose their rhythm, the cell begins
to rock. This causes the swimming movements to slow down or accelerate. The
resulting synchronisation mechanism is based solely on the coupling of the two
movements of the body and the flagella; no special sensors or chemical signals
are needed.