Seminar über aktuelle Fragen zur Dynamik komplexer Fluide: Keeping the (flagellar) beat: timing, synchrony, irreversibility

Eukaryotic cilia (or interchangeably flagella), are tiny hairs lining lung epithelia which beat collectively to rid the airways of mucus and debris; the same structure confers motility to sperm, and enables microscale propulsion of many species of microorganisms. Here, we demonstrate in the flagella of unicellular algae a remarkable capacity to produce not only robust, self-sustained oscillations, but also rapid bifurcations between drastically different actuation modes. By examining single-cell motility we further reveal the extent to which the flagellum, particularly the control of flagellar beating, breaks temporal reversibility.