title: Emergent run-and-tumble behavior in a simple model of Chlamydomonas with intrinsic noise.
abstract: Recent experiments on the green alga Chlamydomonas that swims using synchronized beating of a pair of flagella have revealed that it exhibits a run-and-tumble behavior similar to that of bacteria such as E. coli. Using a simple purely hydrodynamic model that incorporates a stroke cycle and an intrinsic Gaussian white noise, we show that a stochastic run-and-tumble behavior could emerge due to the nonlinearity of the combined synchronization-rotation-translation dynamics. Our study suggests that nonlinear mechanics could be a significant contributing factor to how the trajectories of the microorganism are selected.
authors.affiliation: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rachel R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.affiliation: Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3NP, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Golestanian
mesh_terms: D002696:Chlamydomonas / Q000502:physiology*; D005407:Flagella / Q000502:physiology; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008954:Models, Biological; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D013550:Swimming