article · 09/02/2023
An electrophysiological and kinematic model of Paramecium, the “swimming neuron”
Résumé
Paramecium is a large unicellular organism that swims in fresh water using cilia. When stimulated by various means (mechanically, chemically, optically, thermally), it often swims backward then turns and swims forward again in a new direction: this is called the avoiding reaction. This reaction is triggered by a calcium-based action potential. For this reason, several authors have called Paramecium the “swimming neuron”. Here we present an empirically constrained model of its action potential based on electrophysiology experiments on live immobilized paramecia, together with simultaneous measurement of ciliary beating using particle image velocimetry. Using these measurements and additional behavioral measurements of free swimming, we extend the electrophysiological model by coupling calcium concentration to kinematic parameters, turning it into a swimming model. In this way, we obtain a model of autonomously behaving Paramecium. Finally, we demonstrate how the modeled organism interacts with an environment, can follow gradients and display collective behavior. This work provides a modeling basis for investigating the physiological basis of autonomous behavior of Paramecium in ecological environments.
Citer cet article
Elices, I., Kulkarni, A., Escoubet, N., Pontani, L.-L., Prevost, A.-M., & Brette, R. (2023). An electrophysiological and kinematic model of Paramecium, the “swimming neuron”. PLOS Computational Biology, 19(2), e1010899. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010899@article{Elices2023_388,
author = {Elices, Irene and Kulkarni, Anirudh and Escoubet, Nicolas and Pontani, Lea-Laetitia and Prevost, Alexis M. and Brette, Romain},
year = {2023},
month = {2},
title = {An electrophysiological and kinematic model of Paramecium, the “swimming neuron”},
journal = {PLOS Computational Biology},
volume = {19},
number = {2},
pages = {e1010899},
abstract = {Paramecium is a large unicellular organism that swims in fresh water using cilia. When stimulated by various means (mechanically, chemically, optically, thermally), it often swims backward then turns and swims forward again in a new direction: this is called the avoiding reaction. This reaction is triggered by a calcium-based action potential. For this reason, several authors have called Paramecium the “swimming neuron”. Here we present an empirically constrained model of its action potential based on electrophysiology experiments on live immobilized paramecia, together with simultaneous measurement of ciliary beating using particle image velocimetry. Using these measurements and additional behavioral measurements of free swimming, we extend the electrophysiological model by coupling calcium concentration to kinematic parameters, turning it into a swimming model. In this way, we obtain a model of autonomously behaving Paramecium. Finally, we demonstrate how the modeled organism interacts with an environment, can follow gradients and display collective behavior. This work provides a modeling basis for investigating the physiological basis of autonomous behavior of Paramecium in ecological environments.},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010899},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010899},
}TY - JOUR
AU - Elices, Irene
AU - Kulkarni, Anirudh
AU - Escoubet, Nicolas
AU - Pontani, Lea-Laetitia
AU - Prevost, Alexis M.
AU - Brette, Romain
PY - 2023
DA - 2023/02/09
TI - An electrophysiological and kinematic model of Paramecium, the “swimming neuron”
JO - PLOS Computational Biology
VL - 19
IS - 2
AB - Paramecium is a large unicellular organism that swims in fresh water using cilia. When stimulated by various means (mechanically, chemically, optically, thermally), it often swims backward then turns and swims forward again in a new direction: this is called the avoiding reaction. This reaction is triggered by a calcium-based action potential. For this reason, several authors have called Paramecium the “swimming neuron”. Here we present an empirically constrained model of its action potential based on electrophysiology experiments on live immobilized paramecia, together with simultaneous measurement of ciliary beating using particle image velocimetry. Using these measurements and additional behavioral measurements of free swimming, we extend the electrophysiological model by coupling calcium concentration to kinematic parameters, turning it into a swimming model. In this way, we obtain a model of autonomously behaving Paramecium. Finally, we demonstrate how the modeled organism interacts with an environment, can follow gradients and display collective behavior. This work provides a modeling basis for investigating the physiological basis of autonomous behavior of Paramecium in ecological environments.
SP - e1010899
DO - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010899
UR - https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010899
ER -