Flows driven by flagella of multicellular organisms enhance long-range molecular transport.
AuthorsShort MB, Solari CA, Ganguly S, Powers TR, Kessler JO, Goldstein RE
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID16707579
'Evolution from unicellular organisms to larger multicellular ones requires matching their needs to the rate of exchange of molecular nutrients with the environment. This logistic problem poses a severe constraint on development. For organisms whose body plan is a spherical shell, such as the volvocine green algae, the current (molecules ... More
Bacterial swimming and oxygen transport near contact lines.
AuthorsTuval I, Cisneros L, Dombrowski C, Wolgemuth CW, Kessler JO, Goldstein RE,
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID15699341
Aerobic bacteria often live in thin fluid layers near solid-air-water contact lines, in which the biology of chemotaxis, metabolism, and cell-cell signaling is intimately connected to the physics of buoyancy, diffusion, and mixing. Using the geometry of a sessile drop, we demonstrate in suspensions of Bacillus subtilis the self-organized generation ... More
Multicellularity and the functional interdependence of motility and molecular transport.
AuthorsSolari CA, Ganguly S, Kessler JO, Michod RE, Goldstein RE
JournalProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
PubMed ID16421211
Benefits, costs, and requirements accompany the transition from motile totipotent unicellular organisms to multicellular organisms having cells specialized into reproductive (germ) and vegetative (sterile soma) functions such as motility. In flagellated colonial organisms such as the volvocalean green algae, organized beating by the somatic cells' flagella yields propulsion important in ... More