Euglenids have attracted the attention of scientists since the earliest days of microscopy, when van Leeuwenhoek referred to them in 1674 as microscopic motile ``animalcules'' that were green in the middle, which challenged the classification of organisms into animals and plants. These protists exhibit an unconventional motility strategy amongst unicellular eukaryotes, consisting of large amplitude highly concerted deformations of the entire body (euglenoid movement or metaboly). Metaboly is well known to microbiologists and biophysicist interested in locomotion, yet is often seen as a beautiful mystery. By examining common observations with statistical learning methods, mathematical modeling and numerical simulation, we have examined the poorly understood biophysics of the euglenoid movement.

Publications:

Reverse engineering the euglenoid movement

M. Arroyo, L. Heltai, D. Millán, A. Desimone, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 109, 17874 (2012).