From flagellar undulations to collective motion: predicting the dynamics of sperm suspensions.

ABSTRACT: Swimming cells and microorganisms are as diverse in their collective dynamics as they are in their individual shapes and propulsion mechanisms. Even for sperm cells, which have a stereotyped shape consisting of a cell body connected to a flexible flagellum, a wide range of collective dynamics is observed spanning from the formation of tightly packed groups to the display of larger-scale, turbulence-like motion. Using a detailed mathematical model that resolves flagellum dynamics, we perform simulations of sperm suspensions containing up to 1000 cells and explore the connection between individual and collective dynamics. We find that depending on the level of variation in individual dynamics from one swimmer to another, the sperm exhibit either a strong tendency to aggregate, or the suspens

SUBMITTER: Schoeller SF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5908526 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature