Dresden 2020 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 16: Poster IV

BP 16.4: Poster

Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 14:00–16:00, P2/EG

Dynamic force measurements on actively beating flagella by means of micropipette force sensors — Thomas J. Böddeker, Stefan Karpitschka, Christian T. Kreis, Quentin Magdelaine, and •Oliver Bäumchen — Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS), Am Fassberg 17, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Flagella and cilia are cellular appendages that mediate essential functions such as transport, motility and sensing of the environment. Using a novel experimental technique based on micropipette force sensors, we present the first direct measurement of the oscillatory forcing exerted by the beating flagella of the unicellular model organism Chlamydomonas. This method relies on partially aspiring a motile microbe at the tip of a micropipette cantilever. Through Fourier analysis of the deflection spectrum of the cantilever, we isolate the signal originating from the beating flagella from external noise, resulting in a force resolution of a few piconewtons. The method offers full optical access to the microbe at any time and high flexibility regarding varying experimental parameters. We demonstrate the versatility of this novel experimental approach by measuring the oscillatory forcing at varying distance of the beating flagella to a solid surface and identify the length over which hydrodynamic and steric flagella-surface interactions play a role (T.J. Böddeker et al., arXiv:1908.03602).