2025/12/10 by Cheng, Sizhe, D. B. Das, Das, Devadyouti +10
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Micro and Nano Robotics #Microtubule and mitosis dynamics #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Trypanosoma species research and implications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2512.10021
openalex publication_date 2025/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/12/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In the pathogenic parasite Trypanosoma brucei, a laterally attached flagellum drives rapid deformation of the complex cell body, producing puzzling dynamics. High-speed defocusing imaging reveals that surface points trace flower-like patterns in transverse planes. The petals arise from clockwise flagellar beating, which generates a right-handed helical wave propagating from the anterior tip along the body, advancing the cell like a twisted corkscrew. The central lobes result from slower counterclockwise body rotation required to balance the active torque. The bent cell shape underneath the flagellum superimposes these two chiral motions at different radial distances, producing the observed patterns. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations using the method of regularized Stokeslets reproduce these dynamics and show that bent cell shape enhances swimming, suggesting an adaptive advantage of T. brucei's morphology.