Cyclical bending of two outer‐doublet microtubules in frayed axonemes of <i>Chlamydomonas</i>

Abstract

Abstract When detergent‐extracted cell models of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii were left in the presence of 1 mM Mg‐ATP for more than 30 minutes flagellar axonemes tended to become frayed into fine bundles of microtubules. Under such conditions, bundles made up of a pair of outer‐doublet microtubules displayed oscillatory bending movements of low (&lt; 2 Hz) frequencies. The two doublet microtubules underwent association‐dissociation cycles coupled with gross bending movement. A model is presented to explain this phenomenon by unidirectional sliding interaction between the two microtubules.