title: Antiphase synchronization in a flagellar-dominance mutant of Chlamydomonas.
abstract: Groups of beating flagella or cilia often synchronize so that neighboring filaments have identical frequencies and phases. A prime example is provided by the unicellular biflagellate Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, which typically displays synchronous in-phase beating in a low-Reynolds number version of breaststroke swimming. We report the discovery that ptx1, a flagellar-dominance mutant of C. reinhardtii, can exhibit synchronization in precise antiphase, as in the freestyle swimming stroke. High-speed imaging shows that ptx1 flagella switch stochastically between in-phase and antiphase states, and that the latter has a distinct waveform and significantly higher frequency, both of which are strikingly similar to those found during phase slips that stochastically interrupt in-phase beating of the wild-type. Possible mechanisms underlying these observations are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kyriacos C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Leptos
authors.forename: Kirsty Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polin
authors.forename: Idan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tuval
authors.forename: Adriana I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Pesci
authors.forename: Raymond E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Goldstein
mesh_terms: D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005407:Flagella / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009991:Oscillometry; D013269:Stochastic Processes