scholarly journals SpermQ–A Simple Analysis Software to Comprehensively Study Flagellar Beating and Sperm Steering

Cells ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Hansen ◽  
Sebastian Rassmann ◽  
Jan Jikeli ◽  
Dagmar Wachten
Keyword(s):  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Dark Field ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Common Time ◽  
Flagellar Beat ◽  
Beat Pattern ◽  
Motile Cilia

Motile cilia, also called flagella, are found across a broad range of species; some cilia propel prokaryotes and eukaryotic cells like sperm, while cilia on epithelial surfaces create complex fluid patterns e.g., in the brain or lung. For sperm, the picture has emerged that the flagellum is not only a motor but also a sensor that detects stimuli from the environment, computing the beat pattern according to the sensory input. Thereby, the flagellum navigates sperm through the complex environment in the female genital tract. However, we know very little about how environmental signals change the flagellar beat and, thereby, the swimming behavior of sperm. It has been proposed that distinct signaling domains in the flagellum control the flagellar beat. However, a detailed analysis has been mainly hampered by the fact that current comprehensive analysis approaches rely on complex microscopy and analysis systems. Thus, knowledge on sperm signaling regulating the flagellar beat is based on custom quantification approaches that are limited to only a few aspects of the beat pattern, do not resolve the kinetics of the entire flagellum, rely on manual, qualitative descriptions, and are only a little comparable among each other. Here, we present SpermQ, a ready-to-use and comprehensive analysis software to quantify sperm motility. SpermQ provides a detailed quantification of the flagellar beat based on common time-lapse images acquired by dark-field or epi-fluorescence microscopy, making SpermQ widely applicable. We envision SpermQ becoming a standard tool in flagellar and motile cilia research that allows to readily link studies on individual signaling components in sperm and distinct flagellar beat patterns.

scholarly journals SpermQ - a simple analysis software to comprehensively study flagellar beating and sperm steering

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan N Hansen ◽  
Sebastian Rassmann ◽  
Jan F Jikeli ◽  
Dagmar Wachten
Keyword(s):  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Dark Field ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Common Time ◽  
Flagellar Beat ◽  
Standard Tool ◽  
Motile Cilia

Motile cilia, also called flagella, drive cell motility across a broad range of species; some cilia propel prokaryotes and eukaryotic cells like sperm, while cilia on epithelial surfaces create complex fluid patterns e.g. in the brain or lung. For sperm, the picture has emerged that the motile cilium, also called flagellum, is not only a motor, but also a sensor that detects stimuli from the environment, computing the beat pattern according to the sensory input. Thereby, the flagellum of the sperm cell navigates the sperm through a complex environment like the female genital tract. However, we know very little about how environmental signals change the flagellar beat and, thereby, the swimming behaviour of sperm. It has been proposed that distinct signalling domains in the flagellum control the flagellar beat. A detailed analysis has been mainly hampered by the fact that current comprehensive analysis approaches rely on complex microscopy and analysis systems. Thus, knowledge on sperm signalling regulating the flagellar beat is based on custom quantification approaches that are limited to only a few aspects of the flagellar beat, do not resolve the kinetics of the entire flagellum, rely on manual, qualitative descriptions, and are little comparable among each other. Here, we present SpermQ, a ready-to-use and comprehensive analysis software to quantify sperm motility. SpermQ provides a detailed quantification of the flagellar beat based on common time-lapse images acquired by dark-field or epi-fluorescence microscopy, making SpermQ widely applicable. We envision SpermQ becoming a standard tool in flagellar and motile cilia research that allows to readily link studies on individual signalling components in sperm and distinct flagellar beat patterns.

Analysis of the Flagellar Beat Pattern of Male Ectocarpus Siliculosus Gametes (Phaeophyta) in Relation to Chemotactic Stimulation by Female Cells

1981 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
ANNETTE GELLER ◽  
DIETER G. MÜLLER
Keyword(s):  
Linear Correlation ◽  
Mode Of Action ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Sex Attractant ◽  
Cell Axis ◽  
Ectocarpus Siliculosus ◽  
Bending Waves ◽  
Flagellar Beat ◽  
Beat Pattern ◽  
Negative Linear Correlation

Heterocontic male Ectocarpus siliculosus gametes respond to the sex-attractant ectocarpen by changing their locomotive behaviour. However, the mode of action of the flagella is not changed by the presence of ectocarpen. High-speed cinemicrography shows that gametes moving close to a coverglass perform planar bending waves with their front flagellum. Straight or slightly curved swimming paths are generated by enhanced upward bends of the front flagellum to compensate for the asymmetrical insertion of both flagella. Narrower curves are connected with increasing downward bends of the front flagellum. There is a negative linear correlation between the average deflexion of the front flagellum (μm) from the cell axis and the radius of track (correlation coefficient 0.94). Additionally, freely swimming gametes exhibit elliptical and rotary wave motions, suggesting a relationship between thigmotaxis and mode of action of the front flagellum. The rigid hind flagellum performs one rapid sideward beat when the gametes swim in narrow curves. This appears to provide a steering function.

scholarly journals Entrainment of mammalian motile cilia in the brain with hydrodynamic forces

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (15) ◽  
pp. 8315-8325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pellicciotta ◽  
Evelyn Hamilton ◽  
Jurij Kotar ◽  
Marion Faucourt ◽  
Nathalie Delgehyr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrodynamic Forces ◽  
Coordination Mechanism ◽  
Similar Frequency ◽  
Brain Ventricles ◽  
Flagellar Beat ◽  
Multiciliated Cells ◽  
Hydrodynamic Screening ◽  
Motile Cilia ◽  
External Flows ◽  
The Brain

Motile cilia are widespread across the animal and plant kingdoms, displaying complex collective dynamics central to their physiology. Their coordination mechanism is not generally understood, with previous work mainly focusing on algae and protists. We study here the entrainment of cilia beat in multiciliated cells from brain ventricles. The response to controlled oscillatory external flows shows that flows at a similar frequency to the actively beating cilia can entrain cilia oscillations. We find that the hydrodynamic forces required for this entrainment strongly depend on the number of cilia per cell. Cells with few cilia (up to five) can be entrained at flows comparable to cilia-driven flows, in contrast with what was recently observed in Chlamydomonas. Experimental trends are quantitatively described by a model that accounts for hydrodynamic screening of packed cilia and the chemomechanical energy efficiency of the flagellar beat. Simulations of a minimal model of cilia interacting hydrodynamically show the same trends observed in cilia.

scholarly journals MetaComp: comprehensive analysis software for comparative meta-omics including comparative metagenomics

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Zhai ◽  
Longshu Yang ◽  
Xiao Guo ◽  
Zhe Wang ◽  
Jiangtao Guo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
Comparative Metagenomics

scholarly journals Targeted inactivation of the mouse epididymal beta-defensin 41 alters sperm flagellar beat pattern and zona pellucida binding

2016 ◽  
Vol 427 ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Björkgren ◽  
Luis Alvarez ◽  
Nelli Blank ◽  
Melanie Balbach ◽  
Heikki Turunen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zona Pellucida ◽  
Flagellar Beat ◽  
Beat Pattern ◽  
Targeted Inactivation

scholarly journals A minimal robophysical model of quadriflagellate self-propulsion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelimar Diaz ◽  
Tommie L. Robinson ◽  
Yasemin Ozkan Aydin ◽  
Enes Aydin ◽  
Daniel I. Goldman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Body ◽  
Swimming Performance ◽  
M Cell ◽  
Trot Gait ◽  
Flagellar Beat ◽  
Beat Pattern ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Cilia And Flagella ◽  
Microalgal Species ◽  
Phase Relationships

AbstractLocomotion at the microscale is remarkably sophisticated. Microorganisms have evolved diverse strategies to move within highly viscous environments, using deformable, propulsion-generating appendages such as cilia and flagella to drive helical or undulatory motion. In single-celled algae, these appendages can be arranged in different ways around an approximately 10µm cell body, and coordinated in distinct temporal patterns. Inspired by the observation that some quadriflagellates (bearing four flagella) have an outwardly similar morphology and flagellar beat pattern, yet swim at different speeds, this study seeks to determine whether variations in swimming performance could arise solely from differences in swimming gait. Robotics approaches are particularly suited to such investigations, where the phase relationships between appendages can be readily manipulated. Here, we developed autonomous, algae-inspired robophysical models that can self-propel in a viscous fluid. These macroscopic robots (length and width = 8.5 cm, height = 2 cm) have four independently actuated ‘flagella’ that oscillate back and forth under low-Reynolds number conditions (Re∼ 𝒪(10−1)). We tested the swimming performance of these robot models with appendages arranged in one of two distinct configurations, and coordinated in one of three distinct gaits. The gaits, namely the pronk, the trot, and the gallop, correspond to gaits adopted by distinct microalgal species. When the appendages are inserted perpendicularly around a central ‘body’, the robot achieved a net performance of 0.15−0.63 body lengths per cycle, with the trot gait being the fastest. Robotic swimming performance was found to be comparable to that of the algal microswimmers across all gaits. By creating a minimal robot that can successfully reproduce cilia-inspired drag-based swimming, our work paves the way for the design of next-generation devices that have the capacity to autonomously navigate aqueous environments.

A binary outcome predictor generated by time-lapse analysis software offers a limited selection advantage between blastocysts

2014 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. e283
Author(s):  
M.D. Werner ◽  
K.H. Hong ◽  
J.M. Franasiak ◽  
K. Upham ◽  
R.T. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Time Lapse ◽  
Binary Outcome ◽  
Outcome Predictor ◽  
Analysis Software

scholarly journals Positioning of the Motility Machinery in Halophilic Archaea

mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengqun Li ◽  
Yoshiaki Kinosita ◽  
Marta Rodriguez-Franco ◽  
Phillip Nußbaum ◽  
Frank Braun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Halophilic Archaea ◽  
Time Lapse ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Signals ◽  
Macromolecular Assemblies ◽  
Chemical Gradients ◽  
Fluorescence And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Independent Form ◽  
Macromolecular Protein

ABSTRACTBacteria and archaea exhibit tactical behavior and can move up and down chemical gradients. This tactical behavior relies on a motility structure, which is guided by a chemosensory system. Environmental signals are sensed by membrane-inserted chemosensory receptors that are organized in large ordered arrays. While the cellular positioning of the chemotaxis machinery and that of the flagellum have been studied in detail in bacteria, we have little knowledge about the localization of such macromolecular assemblies in archaea. Although the archaeal motility structure, the archaellum, is fundamentally different from the flagellum, archaea have received the chemosensory machinery from bacteria and have connected this system with the archaellum. Here, we applied a combination of time-lapse imaging and fluorescence and electron microscopy using the model euryarchaeonHaloferax volcaniiand found that archaella were specifically present at the cell poles of actively dividing rod-shaped cells. The chemosensory arrays also had a polar preference, but in addition, several smaller arrays moved freely in the lateral membranes. In the stationary phase, rod-shaped cells became round and chemosensory arrays were disassembled. The positioning of archaella and that of chemosensory arrays are not interdependent and likely require an independent form of positioning machinery. This work showed that, in the rod-shaped haloarchaeal cells, the positioning of the archaellum and of the chemosensory arrays is regulated in time and in space. These insights into the cellular organization ofH. volcaniisuggest the presence of an active mechanism responsible for the positioning of macromolecular protein complexes in archaea.IMPORTANCEArchaea are ubiquitous single cellular microorganisms that play important ecological roles in nature. The intracellular organization of archaeal cells is among the unresolved mysteries of archaeal biology. With this work, we show that cells of haloarchaea are polarized. The cellular positioning of proteins involved in chemotaxis and motility is spatially and temporally organized in these cells. This suggests the presence of a specific mechanism responsible for the positioning of macromolecular protein complexes in archaea.

scholarly journals Biological Processes that Prepare Mammalian Spermatozoa to Interact with an Egg and Fertilize It

Scientifica ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daulat R. P. Tulsiani ◽  
Aïda Abou-Haila
Keyword(s):  
Genital Tract ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Acrosomal Membrane ◽  
Beat Pattern ◽  
Sperm Plasma Membrane ◽  
Dependent Signal ◽  
Egg Coat ◽  
Mammalian Spermatozoa ◽  
Female Genital

In the mouse and other mammals studied, including man, ejaculated spermatozoa cannot immediately fertilize an egg. They require a certain period of residence in the female genital tract to become functionally competent cells. As spermatozoa traverse through the female genital tract, they undergo multiple biochemical and physiological changes collectively referred to as capacitation. Only capacitated spermatozoa interact with the extracellular egg coat, the zona pellucida. The tight irreversible binding of the opposite gametes triggers a Ca2+-dependent signal transduction cascade. The net result is the fusion of the sperm plasma membrane and the underlying outer acrosomal membrane at multiple sites that causes the release of acrosomal contents at the site of sperm-egg adhesion. The hydrolytic action of the acrosomal enzymes released, along with the hyperactivated beat pattern of the bound spermatozoon, is important factor that directs the sperm to penetrate the egg coat and fertilize the egg. The sperm capacitation and the induction of the acrosomal reaction are Ca2+-dependent signaling events that have been of wide interest to reproductive biologists for over half a century. In this paper, we intend to discuss data from this and other laboratories that highlight the biological processes which prepare spermatozoa to interact with an egg and fertilize it.

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