MOTILITY AND POWER DISSIPATION IN FLAGELLATED CELLS, ESPECIALLY CHLAMYDOMONAS

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware

1. The paper describes a method for estimating the minimal power output of individual, nearly spherical, flagellated cells. A comparison of 5 species of green flagellates suggests no relationship between size and power dissipation (Table I).

2. A simple photographic method for estimating the fraction of motile organisms in a culture is described.

3. Cultured populations of Chlamydomonas Reinhardi may contain two or more distinct groups of cells with different degrees of motility (Fig. 1).

4. The motile, "wild-type" C. Moewusii consumed 1.57 µl. O₂ (S.T.P.) per hour per mg. total N.

5. A paralyzed mutant strain of the same species consumed 14% less oxygen than the wild type. The extra oxygen consumed by the motile strain is commensurate with its estimated minimal power output.

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