Switching of behavioral modes and their modulation by a geometrical cue in the ciliate Stentor coeruleus.

ABSTRACT: Protists ubiquitously live in nature and play key roles in the food web chain. Their habitats consist of various geometrical structures, such as porous media and rigid surfaces, affecting their motilities. A kind of protist, Stentor coeruleus, exhibits free swimming and adhering for feeding. Under environmental and culture conditions, these organisms are often found in sediments with complex geometries. The determination of anchoring location is essential for their lives. However, the factors that induce the behavioral transition from swimming to adhering are still unknown. In this study, we quantitatively characterized the behavioral transitions in S. coeruleus and observed the behavior in a chamber with dead ends made by a simple structure mimicking the environmental struct

SUBMITTER: Echigoya S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9663998 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature