Pr. Marco Polin
Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies IMEDEA UIB-CSIC
Laboratory: Physico-Biological Interactions in the Ocean (INFIBIO)
From phototaxis to burst avoidance: the many faces of Micromonas motility
Micromonas is marine unicellular photosynthetic picoeukaryote which inhabits virtually every part of the global ocean. It is considered to be one of the most abundant marine picoeukaryotes and is currently being developed as a model system for ecological interactions between viruses and unicellular hosts. Micromonas is motile, propelling itself with a single eukaryotic flagellum with a highly peculiar structure. In this talk we will explore two aspects of motility in Micromonas. The first is its ability to drift towards a light source. We will discuss the motile strategy behind phototaxis and the potential strategy employed by the cell for light detection. The second is a novel motility response where the death of a single cell triggers the escape of cells in the surrounding area. These so-called “burst events” follow a simple model based on the release of a diffusive species with an estimated diffusion constant typical of molecules. We will discuss potential implications of this behaviour for the spread of viral infections in Micromonas communities.
