This computer helps organisms move.
Scientists from the University of California in San Francisco studied tiny pond inhabitants Euplotes eurystomus and noticed an unusual logic in their movement. According to researchers, organisms use a kind of “computer” for this, reports Science alert.
Tiny single-celled creatures do not have a brain that can control complex movement. Therefore, as a rule, they roll, slide or float. But Euplotes eurystomus scurry like insects, moving 14 small appendages.
According to scientists, the movement of organisms resembles a clockwork that repeats a pattern of predetermined states that are regulated depending on the environment.
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< p>“It seemed that the movements were connected by a consistent logic. They weren't random, and we began to suspect that some kind of information processing was going on,” said biophysicist Ben Larson.
Organisms have 14 bundles of cilia that act together like tiny legs called antennae. These antennae are used for locomotion and hunting.
Larson and his colleagues tracked the movements of the tiny predators in slow motion. The scientists identified 32 different combinations of leg movements and found that some combinations are more likely to follow each other.
The antennae are made of tubulin fibers, just like the other framework structures of the cell (its cytoskeleton). These fibers act as a support structure between the various antennae, so they also function as a kind of mechanical communication.
Computer simulations showed that fiber tension and strain dictate which set of antennal positions is active at any given time. Stress accumulates in some antennae at different stages of walking; when this stress is removed, it prompts the cell to move forward into that state, causing it to cycle between them.
Scientists believe that the fact that the state changes are not random means that there is a rudimentary computer inside the tiny organisms . Scientists exposed Euplotes eurystomus to a drug that disrupts the synchronous reactions of tubulin fibers. As a result, the organisms began to move in chaotic circles.
The gait of Euplotes eurystomus remained correct, but it was no longer coordinated in such a way as to ensure the most efficient movement.
Scientists believe that that tiny creatures control their movement not by brains and nerves, but by networks of signaling molecules. Previously, researchers have already observed how such networks can enable complex microbial behavior, such as decision-making and maze navigation.
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