Analysis of force generation during flagellar assembly through optical trapping of free‐swimming Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Many studies have used velocity measurements, waveform analyses, and theoretical flagella models to investigate the establishment, maintenance, and function of flagella of the biflagellate green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We report the first direct measurement of Chlamydomonas flagellar swimming force. Using an optical trap ("optical tweezers") we detect a 75% decrease in swimming force between wild type (CC124) cells and mutants lacking outer flagellar dynein arms (oda1). This difference is consistent with previous estimates and validates the force measurement approach. To examine mechanisms underlying flagella organization and function, we deflagellated cells and examined force generation during flagellar regeneration. As expected, fully regenerated flagella are functionally equivalent to flagella of untreated wild type cells. However, analysis of swimming force vs. flagella length and the increase in force over regeneration time reveals intriguing patterns where increases in force do not always correspond with increases in length. These investigations of flagellar force, therefore, contribute to the understanding of Chlamydomonas motility, describe phenomena surrounding flagella regeneration, and demonstrate the advantages of the optical trapping technique in studies of cell motility.