This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) supplemental All Versions of this Article: biophysj.105.067876v1 89/5/3261    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Aoyama, S. Articles by Kamiya, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Aoyama, S. Articles by Kamiya, R.

Cyclical Interactions between Two Outer Doublet Microtubules in Split Flagellar Axonemes

Susumu Aoyama ^* and Ritsu Kamiya ^* 

^* Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; and CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Kawaguchi, Japan

Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Ritsu Kamiya, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. Tel.: 81-3-5841-4426; Fax: 81-3-5841-4632; E-mail: kamiyar{at}biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp.

The beating of cilia and flagella is based on the localized sliding between adjacent outer doublet microtubules; however, the mechanism that produces oscillatory bending is unclear. To elucidate this mechanism, we examined the behavior of frayed axonemes of Chlamydomonas by using high-speed video recording. A pair of doublet microtubules frequently displayed association and dissociation cycles in the presence of ATP. In many instances, the dissociation of two microtubules was not accompanied by noticeable bending, suggesting that the dynein-microtubule interaction is not necessarily regulated by the microtubule curvature. On rare occasions, association and dissociation occurred simultaneously in the same interacting pair, resulting in a tip-directed movement of a stretch of gap between the pair. Based on these observations, we propose a model for cyclical bend propagation in the axoneme.