Asymmetric flagellar movement in relation to the orientation of the spore of Blastocladiella emersonii.

Although the random nature of the movement of some plant spermatozoa has been described (Wilkie, 1954; Brokaw, 1959) and the influences of concentration and voltage gradients on the movement have been discussed (Pfeffer, 1884; Brokaw, 1957, 1958 a, b, 1959), no account of the flagellar movement of this type of 01 ganism has been given. Two possible mechanisms which could be responsible for the turning of flagellated organisms in response to the presence of chemotactically active ions have been suggested. Re-orientation of an organism could be brought about by variation in the activity of the flagella (Hoyt, 1910; Metzner, 1926; Brokaw, 19586) or by the action of an electric field on ions absorbed on a region of the cell (Brokaw, 1958a). This paper records the results of a high-speed cine-photographic study of the movement of the spore of Blastocladiella emersonii with special reference to the turning movement. The results are discussed in the light of current hypotheses of flagellar wave propagation.