MSGID: 1:317/3 6279ead0   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    How do water mold spores swim?    
      
     Date:   
         May 9, 2022   
     Source:   
         CNRS   
     Summary:   
         Oomycetes, also known as water moulds, are pathogenic microorganisms   
         that resemble fungi and are responsible for a group of diseases   
         affecting several plant species. To reach and infect plants, the   
         spores swim to their target. Physicists and biologists have now   
         precisely measured the movement of each flagellum while a zoospore   
         follows a linear trajectory and when it is turning.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Oomycetes, also known as water moulds, are pathogenic microorganisms that   
   resemble fungi and are responsible for a group of diseases affecting   
   several plant species. To reach and infect plants, the zoospores --   
   i.e., self- propelled spores -- of oomycetes swim to their target using   
   two flagella1, one opposite the other. In a recent study directed by a   
   CNRS researcher, physicists and biologists worked together to precisely   
   measure the movement of each flagellum while a zoospore follows a linear   
   trajectory and when it is turning.   
      
   They used these data to develop a theoretical model.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Their findings published in eLife (3 May 2022) reveal that, in   
   order for the zoospore to turn, its anterior flagellum ceases to beat   
   sinusoidally, as it does when moving along a straight path, and instead   
   adopts a breaststroke. This is the first time that the movement of   
   such organisms has been described at a microscopic scale. Beyond the   
   fundamental biophysical questions the nature of their motion raises,   
   zoospores represent a new model of 'microswimmers' distinct from algae   
   and bacteria, suggesting new avenues of physics research.   
      
   Through these findings we now understand how oomycete zoospores move,   
   but we still lack knowledge about when and why they change direction   
   during their movement. In the future, the researchers would like to   
   study the interactions between the zoospores and the roots they infect,   
   in order to identify the chemical processes that attract these pathogenic   
   microorganisms.   
      
   This research was a collaborative effort between physicists from the Nice   
   Institute of Physics (CNRS / Universite' Co^te d'Azur), biologists from   
   the Institut Sophia Agrobiotech (INRAE / CNRS / Universite' Co^te d'Azur),   
   a theoretical physicist-modeller from the Laboratory of Theoretical   
   Physics and Modelling (CNRS / CY Cergy Paris Universite'), and an   
   engineer from the Centre Commun de Microscopie Applique'e (Universite'   
   Co^te d'Azur).   
      
   Note 1 A flagellum is a long, mobile filament shaped like a whip and   
   located at the surface of a cell, by which the latter moves.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by CNRS. Note: Content may be edited   
   for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Quang D Tran, Eric Galiana, Philippe Thomen, Ce'line Cohen,   
      Franc,ois   
         Orange, Fernando Peruani, Xavier Noblin. Coordination of two   
         opposite flagella allows high-speed swimming and active turning   
         of individual zoospores. eLife, 2022; 11 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.71227   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220509162816.htm   
      
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