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Prey capture in protists utilizing microtubule filled processes and surface motility.
1Department of Cell Biology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
Cytoskeleton (Hoboken, N.J.)
|November 15, 2020
Summary
Surface motility in protists, utilizing structures like flagella, is vital for capturing prey. This review highlights its importance and calls for renewed research using new molecular tools.
Area of Science:
- Protistology
- Cell Biology
- Biophysics
Background:
- Surface motility, observed in microtubule-filled protistan cell extensions, has unclear functions.
- These extensions include flagella, axopodia, actinopodia, reticulopodia, and haptonema.
- Surface motility is crucial for prey capture in many protists.
Purpose of the Study:
- To integrate literature on protistan surface motility and its role in prey capture.
- To rekindle interest in this field due to emerging molecular tools.
- To address the mechanistic understanding beyond descriptive studies.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and synthesis.
- Analysis of protistan cell extensions and motility mechanisms.
- Discussion of technical challenges and future research directions.
Main Results:
- Surface motility is essential for prey capture in diverse protists.
- Intraflagellar transport is the force transduction mechanism in Chlamydomonas gliding motility.
- Mechanistic studies are limited outside Chlamydomonas due to technical difficulties.
Conclusions:
- Surface motility is a key functional adaptation in protists for feeding.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms across various protistan taxa.
- Emerging molecular tools promise to advance understanding of protistan surface motility.
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