Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Microbial Morphologies01:29

Microbial Morphologies

2
Bacterial and archaeal cells exhibit remarkable diversity in shape and structure, critical in their adaptability and functionality. Among bacteria, the most commonly observed shapes include cocci and bacilli. Cocci are spherical and may exist singly or in groupings such as pairs (diplococci), chains (streptococci), clusters (staphylococci), or tetrads. Bacilli, in contrast, are rod-shaped and can also occur as single cells, in pairs, or chains, depending on their environmental and genetic...
2
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

5.7K
Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
5.7K
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes02:40

The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes

32.2K
The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ancestor to all life on Earth. All other species radiate from this point, much like the branches of a tree. The numerous tips of these branches on the tree of life represent every living, or extant, species. Extinct species, which are species that no longer exist, can be found towards the center of the tree. Currently, these organisms, both...
32.2K
Phylogeny01:23

Phylogeny

43.7K
Phylogeny is concerned with the evolutionary diversification of organisms or groups of organisms. A group of organisms with a name is called a taxon (singular). Taxa (plural) can span different levels of the evolutionary hierarchy. For instance, the group containing all birds is a taxon (comprising the class Aves), and the group of all species of daisies (the genus Bellis) is a taxon. Phylogenies can likewise include just one genus (i.e., depict species relationships) or span an entire kingdom.
43.7K
Morphogenesis02:19

Morphogenesis

27.0K
Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.
27.0K
Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms02:18

Types of Genetic Transfer Between Organisms

27.1K
Genetic transfer occurs when genetic information is passed from one organism to another. It occurs via two mechanisms: vertical gene transfer and horizontal gene transfer. Vertical gene transfer occurs when genetic information is transferred from one generation to the next, which happens much more frequently than horizontal gene transfer. Both sexual and asexual reproduction are forms of vertical gene transfer, where one or more organisms pass some or all of their genome onto their progeny.
27.1K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Cell division timing shapes the morphology and size of nascent multicellular organisms.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

The fitness costs of reproductive specialization scale inversely with organismal size.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

The limits of information in precise regulation of early multicellular life cycles.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

<i><i>Vibrio cholerae</i></i> biofilm matrix assembly and growth are shaped by a glutamate-specific TAXI/TRAP protein.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025
Same author

Rewilding microbiology.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2025
Same author

Real-time, high-throughput super-resolution microscopy via panoramic integration.

Nature communications·2025
Same journal

Connectivity Structure and Dynamics of Nonlinear Recurrent Neural Networks.

Physical review. X·2026
Same journal

Electric Field of DNA in Solution: Who Is in Charge?

Physical review. X·2025
Same journal

Spontaneous Brain Activity Emerges from Pairwise Interactions in the Larval Zebrafish Brain.

Physical review. X·2025
Same journal

Terahertz-Rate Kerr-Microresonator Optical Clockwork.

Physical review. X·2025
Same journal

Towards the optical second: verifying optical clocks at the SI limit.

Physical review. X·2024
Same journal

Anomalous Metamagnetism in the Low Carrier Density Kondo Lattice YbRh<sub>3</sub>Si<sub>7</sub>.

Physical review. X·2024
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
07:00

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: October 4, 2024

544

Morphological Entanglement in Living Systems.

Thomas C Day1, S Alireza Zamani-Dahaj1, G Ozan Bozdag2

  • 1School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology.

Physical Review. X
|October 31, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Organismal growth readily causes branching structures to become entangled, a phenomenon less dependent on geometry and more on time. This biological entanglement is easily achieved, offering new pathways for evolving material properties.

More Related Videos

Layers of Symbiosis - Visualizing the Termite Hindgut Microbial Community
11:28

Layers of Symbiosis - Visualizing the Termite Hindgut Microbial Community

Published on: May 28, 2007

32.4K
Leveraging Micro-CT Scanning to Analyze Parasitic Plant-Host Interactions
06:23

Leveraging Micro-CT Scanning to Analyze Parasitic Plant-Host Interactions

Published on: January 12, 2022

1.9K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 9, 2025

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
07:00

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy

Published on: October 4, 2024

544
Layers of Symbiosis - Visualizing the Termite Hindgut Microbial Community
11:28

Layers of Symbiosis - Visualizing the Termite Hindgut Microbial Community

Published on: May 28, 2007

32.4K
Leveraging Micro-CT Scanning to Analyze Parasitic Plant-Host Interactions
06:23

Leveraging Micro-CT Scanning to Analyze Parasitic Plant-Host Interactions

Published on: January 12, 2022

1.9K

Area of Science:

  • Biophysics
  • Developmental Biology
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • Organisms often display branching morphologies that intertwine and become entangled.
  • Entanglement, well-studied in nonliving materials, is sensitive to component geometry.
  • The role and mechanisms of entanglement in living systems remain less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how growth influences entanglement in branched biological structures.
  • To determine the factors governing entanglement in living systems.
  • To explore the evolutionary implications of growth-facilitated entanglement.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental growth of branched structures.
  • Computational simulations of branching and entanglement.
  • Numerical analyses of geometric and temporal factors.
  • Experiments using snowflake yeast as a model system.

Main Results:

  • Growth generically facilitates entanglement across a wide range of geometries.
  • Entangled branches from growth are often irreducible by physical manipulation.
  • Simulations show branching trees readily entangle, independent of specific branch geometry.
  • Entanglement in living systems is primarily dependent on growth duration, not geometry.

Conclusions:

  • Growth is a key mechanism promoting entanglement in biological systems.
  • Entanglement via growth is more accessible in living systems than in nonliving materials.
  • This process provides a mechanism for the evolution of novel biological material properties.