Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37758714›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

The reaction-diffusion basis of animated patterns in eukaryotic flagella.

James F Cass, Hermes Bloomfield-Gadêlha

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Nonreciprocal buckling makes active filaments polyfunctional.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Form and function in biological filaments: a physicist's review.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025
    Review
  6. Modelling motility of Trypanosoma brucei.PLoS computational biology · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Active fluctuations of axoneme oscillations scale with number of dynein motors.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  11. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

James F CassSchool of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6231-3016
Hermes Bloomfield-GadêlhaSchool of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, and Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. hermes.gadelha@bristol.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-8053-9249

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The flagellar beat of bull spermatozoa and C. Reinhardtii are modelled by a minimal, geometrically exact, reaction-diffusion system. Spatio-temporal animated patterns describe flagellar waves, analogous to chemical-patterns from classical reaction-diffusion systems, with sliding-controlled molecular motor reaction-kinetics. The reaction-diffusion system is derived from first principles as a consequence of the high-internal dissipation by the flagellum relative to the external hydrodynamic dissipation. Quantitative comparison with nonlinear, large-amplitude simulations shows that animated reaction-diffusion patterns account for the experimental beating of both bull sperm and C. Reinhardtii. Our results suggest that a unified mechanism may exist for motors controlled by sliding, without requiring curvature-sensing, and uninfluenced by hydrodynamics. High-internal dissipation instigates autonomous travelling waves independently of the external fluid, enabling progressive swimming, otherwise not possible, in low viscosity environments, potentially critical for external fertilizers and aquatic microorganisms. The reaction-diffusion system may prove a powerful tool for studying pattern formation of movement on animated structures.

Indexed as

SemenSpermatozoaAnimalsCattleCiliaFlagellaHydrodynamicsMaleSperm Motility

Identifiers

PMID37758714
PMCPMC10533521

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.