TY - JOUR
T1 - Size-dependent self-avoidance enables superdiffusive migration in macroscopic unicellulars
AU - Tröger, Lucas
AU - Goirand, Florian
AU - Alim, Karen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 the Author(s).
PY - 2024/3/26
Y1 - 2024/3/26
N2 - Many cells face search problems, such as finding food, mates, or shelter, where their success depends on their search strategy. In contrast to other unicellular organisms, the slime mold Physarum polycephalum forms a giant network-shaped plasmodium while foraging for food. What is the advantage of the giant cell on the verge of multicellularity? We experimentally study and quantify the migration behavior of P. polycephalum plasmodia on the time scale of days in the absence and presence of food. We develop a model which successfully describes its migration in terms of ten data-derived parameters. Using the mechanistic insights provided by our data-driven model, we find that regardless of the absence or presence of food, P. polycephalum achieves superdiffusive migration by performing a self-avoiding run-and-tumble movement. In the presence of food, the run duration statistics change, only controlling the short-term migration dynamics. However, varying organism size, we find that the long-term superdiffusion arises from self-avoidance determined by cell size, highlighting the potential evolutionary advantage that this macroscopically large cell may have.
AB - Many cells face search problems, such as finding food, mates, or shelter, where their success depends on their search strategy. In contrast to other unicellular organisms, the slime mold Physarum polycephalum forms a giant network-shaped plasmodium while foraging for food. What is the advantage of the giant cell on the verge of multicellularity? We experimentally study and quantify the migration behavior of P. polycephalum plasmodia on the time scale of days in the absence and presence of food. We develop a model which successfully describes its migration in terms of ten data-derived parameters. Using the mechanistic insights provided by our data-driven model, we find that regardless of the absence or presence of food, P. polycephalum achieves superdiffusive migration by performing a self-avoiding run-and-tumble movement. In the presence of food, the run duration statistics change, only controlling the short-term migration dynamics. However, varying organism size, we find that the long-term superdiffusion arises from self-avoidance determined by cell size, highlighting the potential evolutionary advantage that this macroscopically large cell may have.
KW - behavior
KW - migration
KW - multicellularity
KW - plasmodial slime mold
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85188875595&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2312611121
DO - 10.1073/pnas.2312611121
M3 - Article
C2 - 38517977
AN - SCOPUS:85188875595
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 121
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 13
M1 - e2312611121
ER -