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Single cell analysis using a glass microchamber for studying movement fluctuations of Navicula pavillardii and
Kazuo Umemura1, Yusuke Sadoya1, Kazuki Nagao1
1Biophysics Section, Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku, Tokyo 1628601, Japan.
Abstract:
We propose a new technique for quantitative trajectory analysis of gliding phenomenon of Navicula pavillardii (NP) and Seminavis robusta (SR) diatom cells by single cell observation using a glass microchamber in this short technical note. Two-dimensional trajectory analysis of cell movements was used to determine the angular velocity, velocity, and migration distances of the diatom movement. Based on the trajectory analysis, we found that asymmetrically shaped SR had a larger angular velocity with large fluctuations compared to symmetrically shaped NP, although the velocity of SR was less than that of NP. It suggests that lateral frictional force in a culture medium is an important factor for diatom movements. Our results revealed that the single cell observation using a glass microchamber is effective on quantitative analysis of angular velocity of diatom gliding.
