title: Axonemal motility in Chlamydomonas.
abstract: Motile cilia and flagella rapidly propagate bending waves and produce water flow over the cell surface. Their function is important for the physiology and development of various organisms including humans. The movement is based on the sliding between outer doublet microtubules driven by axonemal dyneins, and is regulated by various axonemal components and environmental factors. For studies aiming to elucidate the mechanism of cilia/flagella movement and regulation, Chlamydomonas is an invaluable model organism that offers a variety of mutants. This chapter introduces standard methods for studying Chlamydomonas flagellar motility including analysis of swimming paths, measurements of swimming speed and beat frequency, motility reactivation in demembranated cells (cell models), and observation of microtubule sliding in disintegrating axonemes. Most methods may be easily applied to other organisms with slight modifications of the medium conditions.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Resources Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wakabayashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Faculty of Science, Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ritsu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kamiya
mesh_terms: D056444:Axonemal Dyneins / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D016825:Chlamydomonas reinhardtii / Q000502:physiology*; D002923:Cilia / Q000502:physiology*; D004398:Dyneins / Q000378:metabolism; D005407:Flagella / Q000502:physiology*; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D056444:Axonemal Dyneins; D004398:Dyneins
keywords: Axoneme; Beat frequency; Cilia and flagella; Demembranated cell models; FFT analysis; Microtubule sliding