Article
Veterinary Sciences
Sabrina Gacem, Anthony Valverde, Jaime Catalan, Ivan Yanez Ortiz, Carles Soler, Jordi Miro
Summary: This study characterized sperm kinematic values, defined subpopulation structures, and compared horse and donkey ejaculates. Significant differences were found in kinematic parameters between donkeys and horses and among horse breeds. Three sperm subpopulations were identified in ejaculates, with varying motility characteristics.
FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ana Sanchez-Rodriguez, Ingrid I. D. Idrovo, Juan Antonio Rielo, Eduardo R. S. Roldan
Summary: This study aimed to analyze changes in spermatozoa of Phodopus hamsters under different incubation conditions. The results showed that different media affected sperm motility, viability, capacitation patterns, and kinematics. Bicarbonate was found to have a role in promoting capacitation, but progesterone did not enhance the percentage of capacitated cells. The study provides insights into the changes associated with capacitation and hyperactivated motility in Phodopus species, but further research is needed to explore optimal media conditions.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Xiaolin Liu, Anna Roujeinikova, Karen M. Ottemann
Summary: FliL is a protein found in the flagellar motor of bacteria. It was previously unclear what role it plays. However, through reanalyzing studies on FliL, scientists discovered that the presence or absence of different regions of the protein affects motility. The N-terminal region is found to have a negative effect on motor function, and its removal allows normal motility.
Article
Biology
Weijie Chen, Neha Mani, Hamid Karani, Hao Li, Sridhar Mani, Jay X. Tang
Summary: In this study, by confining bacterial movement in circular microwells, it was found that swarming bacteria and planktonic bacteria exhibited different collective motion patterns within a specific size range. The observation of 'rafting behavior' of swarming bacteria upon dilution suggests a potential mechanism for the differences in motion patterns. The experimental design using PDMS microchip disk arrays enabled the observation of bacterial swarming on murine intestinal surface, providing a new method for characterizing bacterial swarming in complex environments.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Dominika Trzilova, Mercedes A. H. Warren, Nicole C. Gadda, Caitlin L. Williams, Rita Tamayo
Summary: C. difficile exhibits heterogeneity in swimming motility and toxin production through phase variation by site-specific DNA recombination. The ability of C. difficile to phase vary flagella and toxins influences colonization and disease development, indicating that the phenotypic variants generated by flagellar switch inversion have distinct capacities for causing disease.
Article
Microbiology
Yunjie Chang, Hui Xu, Md A. Motaleb, Jun Liu
Summary: Researchers have discovered a multiprotein collar complex in Lyme disease spirochetes, which exhibits remarkable structural plasticity to accommodate the highly curved membrane and generate the high torque necessary for spirochete motility.
Article
Microbiology
Marek Bogacz, Faiha M. El Abbar, Claudia A. Cox, Jiaqi Li, Jarred S. Fiedler, Lynn K. H. Tran, Paul M. H. Tran, C. Luke Daugherty, Kate H. Blake, Zhirui Wang, Parastoo Azadi, Stuart A. Thompson
Summary: The study identified the FliW binding site on CsrA in Campylobacter jejuni and found that specific mutations (V51A and N55A) significantly decreased FliW binding. These mutations, as well as the conservation of certain residues in bacterial species, suggest a potential regulation mechanism by FliW in bacterial CsrA proteins.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Huan Wu, Yiyuan Liu, Yuqian Li, Kuokuo Li, Chuan Xu, Yang Gao, Mingrong Lv, Rui Guo, Yuping Xu, Ping Zhou, Zhaolian Wei, Rong Hua, Xiaojin He, Yunxia Cao
Summary: The loss of DNALI1 leads to asymmetry in the most fibrous sheath of sperm flagellum, resulting in immotility of the sperm. DNALI1 was found to interact with the cytoplasmic dynein complex and regulate the transport and assembly of flagellar proteins. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) can effectively resolve infertility caused by DNALI1 deficiency.
CELL DEATH & DISEASE
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Wakako Takano, Toru Hisabori, Ken-ichi Wakabayashi
Summary: This study established a rapid method for estimating cytosolic ATP levels from ciliary beating frequency in C. reinhardtii, allowing for quick estimation of ATP concentration in live cells. The method permits quantitative and noninvasive assessment of genetic mutations or inhibitors of photosynthesis and respiration, providing a convenient tool for studying ATP production mechanisms in C. reinhardtii or other ciliated organisms.
JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
S. Judycka, D. Zarski, M. A. Dietrich, H. Karol, P. Hliwa, M. Blazejewski, A. Ciereszko
Summary: The study focuses on an improved semen cryopreservation protocol for commercial fertilization in European perch, showing high sperm motility with a new extender and KCl supplementation. The enhanced procedure allows for handling prediluted semen and maintaining high fertilization rates for cryopreserved and fresh semen, enabling large-scale fertilization applications.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Benjamin J. Walker, Kenta Ishimoto, Eamonn A. Gaffney, Clement Moreau, Mohit P. Dalwadi
Summary: In this study, the long-term effects of high-frequency oscillations on translational and angular motion are systematically evaluated. It is shown that rapid oscillations can cause a bias in the average direction of progression, and the impact of yawing on propulsion speed and hydrodynamic shape is quantified.
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Yangfu Li, Nuo Chen, Qingping Wu, Xinmin Liang, Xiaoming Yuan, Zhenjun Zhu, Yin Zheng, Shubo Yu, Moutong Chen, Jumei Zhang, Juan Wang, Yu Ding
Summary: This study found that knocking out the flagellar hook encoding gene flgE in emetic Bacillus cereus strains resulted in the loss of flagellar structure and swimming ability, defects in both pellicle and ring formation, and a decrease in cereulide synthesis. This suggests that flagellar components play an important role in biofilm formation and cereulide production in emetic B. cereus.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xia Liang, Feng Wei, Hongliang Yang, Li Fan, Xiaolin Cai, Yangyang Ma, Jiancheng Shi, Kun Xing, Lijuan Qiu, Xixuan Li, Lijuan Lu, Jie Ji, Yingqiang Wen, Jiayue Feng
Summary: A new strain of Xanthomonas fragariae, YLX21, was isolated in China and found to be genetically different from the known strain YL19. YLX21 primarily multiplied within strawberry leaves, causing severe angular leaf spot symptoms, while YL19 was more likely to cause dry cavity rot in strawberry crowns. Additionally, the motility and chemotaxis abilities of the two strains differed.
Article
Cell Biology
Xin Zhang, Zhuang Xiao, Jintao Zhang, Changtong Xu, Siyu Liu, Li Cheng, Shushu Zhou, Shuqin Zhao, Yuqi Zhang, Jianping Wu, Ying Wang, Mingxi Liu
Summary: This study reveals the composition and function of RS1 in mammalian sperm flagella using a mouse model.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Xinzong Zhang, Zhaoyu Fan, Qiling Wang, Xinyi Deng, Ruijun Xu, Yingxin Li, Tingting Liu, Rui Wang, Chunxiang Shi, Suli Huang, Ziquan Lv, Gongbo Chen, Yong-Gang Duan, Yuewei Liu
Summary: This study reveals an association between ambient temperature and semen quality in South China, with higher temperatures leading to a reduction in semen quality. The findings indicate that a 5-degree Celsius increase in temperature during the 0-90 day period before ejaculation is associated with decreased sperm concentration, total sperm number, total motility, and normal sperm morphology. Furthermore, specific critical exposure windows of 10-14 days and 70-90 days before ejaculation were identified for sperm motility, count, and morphology.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yang Yue, Jingru Cheng, Kang Soo Lee, Roman Stocker, Xu He, Maosheng Yao, Jing Wang
Summary: This study investigated the formation mechanism and influencing factors of sulfate in fine particles during haze episodes in different city environments through experiments and collected samples. The results revealed that relative humidity significantly affects the formation of new CaSO4.2H2O crystals.
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Noele Norris, Uria Alcolombri, Johannes M. Keegstra, Yutaka Yawata, Filippo Menolascina, Emilio Frazzoli, Naomi M. Levine, Vicente Fernandez, Roman Stocker
Summary: This study investigates how E. coli senses and responds to gradients of maltose. The researchers found that the abundance of a specific porin protein limits the uptake of maltose into the periplasm, allowing E. coli to sense micromolar gradients of maltose despite having a high-affinity ABC transport system that is saturated at these levels. The study suggests a trade-off between uptake and sensing, with high-affinity transport enabling higher uptake rates but severely limiting the range of dynamic sensing.
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Mechanics
Manish Kumar, Jeffrey S. Guasto, Arezoo M. Ardekani
Summary: Complex and active fluids in flows through porous materials have broad applications and can exhibit surprising flow patterns and transport properties due to the coupling with porous microstructure. Recent studies have investigated how pore-scale geometry influences the flow topology and transport properties at the sample scale. Active colloids and swimming cells present unique challenges in understanding their mechanics and transport in porous media flows.
JOURNAL OF RHEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jean-Baptiste Raina, Bennett S. Lambert, Donovan H. Parks, Christian Rinke, Nachshon Siboni, Anna Bramucci, Martin Ostrowski, Brandon Signal, Adrian Lutz, Himasha Mendis, Francesco Rubino, Vicente I. Fernandez, Roman Stocker, Philip Hugenholtz, Gene W. Tyson, Justin R. Seymour
Summary: This study demonstrates the chemotactic responses of marine bacteria and archaea towards microscale hotspots of phytoplankton-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM). The specific chemical cues attract different prokaryotic populations, which play important roles in biogeochemical processes and ecological interactions in the marine food web.
Review
Microbiology
Johannes M. Keegstra, Francesco Carrara, Roman Stocker
Summary: The mechanism of bacterial chemotaxis is well understood, but the reasons and consequences behind it are still puzzling. Besides foraging, bacterial chemotaxis also plays alternative ecological roles such as navigation, localization, and promoting microbial diversity. Most insights on chemotaxis are obtained from laboratory studies, and observing individual and collective migratory behavior of bacteria in different environments can provide a better understanding of the trade-offs between chemotaxis and growth. Further research using in situ approaches and transgenerational tracking is needed to explore the role of chemotaxis in microbial life.
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
A. McGhee, J. Yang, E. C. Bremer, Z. Xu, H. C. I. I. I. I. I. I. Cramer, J. B. Estrada, D. L. Henann, C. Franck
Summary: This study develops an experimental method to quantitatively measure full-field deformation and associated strains due to laser-induced inertial cavitation in gelatin hydrogels. The method combines the embedded speckle plane patterning and spatiotemporally adaptive quadtree mesh digital image correlation techniques, and successfully captures the kinematics of gelatin hydrogels at different concentrations.
EXPERIMENTAL MECHANICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Sujit S. Datta, Arezoo M. Ardekani, Paulo E. Arratia, Antony N. Beris, Irmgard Bischofberger, Gareth H. McKinley, Jens G. Eggers, J. Esteban Lopez-Aguilar, Suzanne M. Fielding, Anna Frishman, Michael D. Graham, Jeffrey S. Guasto, Simon J. Haward, Amy Q. Shen, Sarah Hormozi, Alexander Morozov, Robert J. Poole, V. Shankar, Eric S. G. Shaqfeh, Holger Stark, Victor Steinberg, Ganesh Subramanian, Howard A. Stone
Summary: Viscoelastic fluids can exhibit turbulence-like flows even at low Reynolds numbers due to their unstable and nonlinear nature. Understanding and studying the instabilities of viscoelastic flows is important for both engineering applications and fundamental understanding.
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manish Kumar, Jeffrey S. Guasto, Arezoo M. Ardekani
Summary: This study finds that the topology of the polymeric stress field closely resembles the Lagrangian stretching field, which depends solely on flow kinematics. A general analytical expression is developed to directly relate the polymeric stress and stretching in weakly viscoelastic fluids for both nonlinear and unsteady flows. Numerical simulations show a clear correlation between the stress and stretching field topologies for unstable viscoelastic flows across a broad range of geometries. This work provides a simple framework to determine the topology of polymeric stress directly from readily measurable flow field data and lays the foundation for directly linking the polymeric stress to flow transport properties.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Amin Dehkharghani, Nicolas Waisbord, Jeffrey S. Guasto
Summary: Bacterial motility is crucial for their survival in porous environments, where they mediate important biogeochemical processes. This study tracks the movement of bacteria through microfluidic porous media with different geometries, and finds that ordered and disordered media have different impacts on bacterial motility. An effective mean free path is identified as the key parameter controlling bacterial transport.
COMMUNICATIONS PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Richard J. Henshaw, Olivia G. Martin, Jeffrey S. Guasto
Summary: Dense suspensions of swimming bacteria exhibit chaotic flow patterns that promote mixing and transport. Microfluidic experiments combined with proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis were used to investigate the dynamics of collective flows under different conditions. The analysis revealed the low-dimensional order representations of active turbulence and illustrated the role of boundary interactions in the transition to bacterial turbulence.
PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Manish Kumar, Derek M. Walkama, Arezoo M. Ardekani, Jeffrey S. Guasto
Summary: This study investigates the role of viscoelastic instability in fluid flow through porous media at high Peclet numbers. The results show that viscoelastic instability enhances transverse dispersion in ordered media, while preferential flow paths enhance longitudinal dispersion.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Manish Kumar, Derek M. Walkama, Arezoo M. Ardekani, Jeffrey S. Guasto
Summary: In this study, we investigated the mechanical dispersion of viscoelastic fluid flow through porous media. Our findings from microfluidic experiments and numerical simulations demonstrate that viscoelastic instability enhances dispersion transverse to the mean flow direction. Additionally, we observed that preferential flow paths can affect the instability and transport processes.
Article
Physics, Applied
Mitra Aliabouzar, Bachir A. Abeid, Oliver D. Kripfgans, J. Brian Fowlkes, Jonathan B. Estrada, Mario L. Fabiilli
Summary: Phase-shift droplets generated a range of bioeffects via the mechanism of acoustic droplet vaporization (ADV), which could be applied in therapeutic and diagnostic ultrasound. This study visualized ADV-induced mechanics and sonoporation in fibrin-based hydrogels using ultra-high-speed microscopy, confocal microscopy, and focused ultrasound. The results showed that fibrin gels containing perfluoropentane (PFP) droplets exhibited significantly higher radial expansion, expansion velocity, induced strain, and displacement of tracer particles compared to gels containing perfluorohexane (PFH) or perfluorooctane (PFO) droplets. Cell membrane permeabilization was dependent on the distance between the droplet and cell, decreasing rapidly with increasing distance. The hyper-local region of influence by an ADV bubble correlated inversely with the boiling point of the phase-shift droplets. These findings provide insights for the development of optimal approaches for therapeutic applications of ADV.
APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Soeren Ahmerkamp, Farooq Moin Jalaluddin, Yuan Cui, Douglas R. Brumley, Cesar O. Pacherres, Jasmine S. Berg, Roman Stocker, Marcel M. M. Kuypers, Klaus Koren, Lars Behrendt
Summary: This study presents sensPIV, a method for simultaneously measuring O2 concentrations and flow fields. By tracking O2-sensitive microparticles in fluid, the researchers measured O2 transport within microfluidic devices, sinking model aggregates, and complex colony-forming corals, and found that corals use ciliary movement to link zones of photosynthetic O2 production to zones of O2 consumption.
CELL REPORTS METHODS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Giovanni Savorana, Jonasz Slomka, Roman Stocker, Roberto Rusconi, Eleonora Secchi
Summary: This study presents a microfluidic platform for the reproducible growth and characterization of biofilm streamers. The platform allows for the analysis of biochemical composition, morphology, and rheology of the streamers. Additionally, a protocol for in situ hydrodynamic stress tests was developed to investigate the role of fluid shear stress on the structure and rheology of streamers.
