arXiv subjects

Benjamin M. Friedrich

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin M. Friedrich.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Flagellar swimmers oscillate between pusher- and puller-type swimming

Self-propulsion of cellular microswimmers generates flow signatures, commonly classified as pusher- and puller-type, which characterize hydrodynamic interactions with other cells or boundaries. Using experimentally measured beat patterns, we compute that flagellated alga and sperm oscillate between pusher and puller. Beyond a typical distance of 100 um from the swimmer, inertia attenuates oscillatory micro-flows. We show that hydrodynamic interactions between swimmers oscillate in time and are of similar magnitude as stochastic swimming fluctuations.

q-bio.CB↗

arXiv2015

Scaling and regeneration of self-organized patterns

Biological patterns generated during development and regeneration often scale with organism size. Some organisms, e.g., flatworms, can regenerate a rescaled body plan from tissue fragments of varying sizes. Inspired by these examples, we introduce a generalization of Turing patterns that is self-organized and self-scaling. A feedback loop involving diffusing expander molecules regulates the reaction rates of a Turing system, thereby adjusting pattern length scales proportional to system size. Our model captures essential features of body plan regeneration in flatworms as observed in experiments.

q-bio.TO↗

arXiv2014

Shape mode analysis exposes movement patterns in biology: flagella and flatworms as case studies

We illustrate shape mode analysis as a simple, yet powerful technique to concisely describe complex biological shapes and their dynamics. We characterize undulatory bending waves of beating flagella and reconstruct a limit cycle of flagellar oscillations, paying particular attention to the periodicity of angular data. As a second example, we analyze non-convex boundary outlines of gliding flatworms, which allows us to expose stereotypic body postures that can be related to two different locomotion mechanisms. Further, shape mode analysis based on principal component analysis allows to discriminate different flatworm species, despite large motion-associated shape variability. Thus, complex shape dynamics is characterized by a small number of shape scores that change in time. We present this method using descriptive examples, explaining abstract mathematics in a graphic way.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2014

Active phase and amplitude fluctuations of flagellar beating

The eukaryotic flagellum beats periodically, driven by the oscillatory dynamics of molecular motors, to propel cells and pump fluids. Small, but perceivable fluctuations in the beat of individual flagella have physiological implications for synchronization in collections of flagella as well as for hydrodynamic interactions between flagellated swimmers. Here, we characterize phase and amplitude fluctuations of flagellar bending waves using shape mode analysis and limit cycle reconstruction. We report a quality factor of flagellar oscillations, $Q=38.0\pm 16.7$ (mean$\pm$s.e.). Our analysis shows that flagellar fluctuations are dominantly of active origin. Using a minimal model of collective motor oscillations, we demonstrate how the stochastic dynamics of individual motors can give rise to active small-number fluctuations in motor-cytoskeleton systems.

q-bio.CB↗

arXiv2013

A three-sphere swimmer for flagellar synchronization

In a recent letter (Friedrich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109:138102, 2012), a minimal model swimmer was proposed that propels itself at low Reynolds numbers by a revolving motion of a pair of spheres. The motion of the two spheres can synchronize by virtue of a hydrodynamic coupling that depends on the motion of the swimmer, but is rather independent of direct hydrodynamic interactions. This novel synchronization mechanism could account for the synchronization of a pair of flagella, e.g. in the green algae Chlamydomonas. Here, we discuss in detail how swimming and synchronization depend on the geometry of the model swimmer and compute the swimmer design for optimal synchronization. Our analysis highlights the role of broken symmetries for swimming and synchronization.

q-bio.CB↗

arXiv2010

Nematic order by elastic interactions and cellular rigidity sensing

We predict spontaneous nematic order in an ensemble of active force generators with elastic interactions as a minimal model for early nematic alignment of short stress fibers in non-motile, adhered cells. Mean-field theory is formally equivalent to Maier-Saupe theory for a nematic liquid. However, the elastic interactions are long-ranged (and thus depend on cell shape and matrix elasticity) and originate in cell activity. Depending on the density of force generators, we find two regimes of cellular rigidity sensing for which orientational, nematic order of stress fibers depends on matrix rigidity either in a step-like manner or with a maximum at an optimal rigidity.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2009

Steering chiral swimmers along noisy helical paths

Chemotaxis along helical paths towards a target releasing a chemoattractant is found in sperm cells and many microorganisms. We discuss the stochastic differential geometry of the noisy helical swimming path of a chiral swimmer. A chiral swimmer equipped with a simple feedback system can navigate in a concentration gradient of chemoattractant. We derive an effective equation for the alignment of helical paths with a concentration gradient which is related to the alignment of a dipole in an external field. We discuss the chemotaxis index in the presence of fluctuations.

physics.bio-ph↗