Metachronal Motion across Scales: Current Challenges and Future Directions

Margaret L Byron; David W Murphy; Kakani Katija; Alexander P Hoover; Joost Daniels; Kuvvat Garayev; Daisuke Takagi; Eva Kanso; Bradford J Gemmell; Melissa Ruszczyk; Arvind Santhanakrishnan

doi:10.1093/icb/icab105

Metachronal Motion across Scales: Current Challenges and Future Directions

Integr Comp Biol. 2021 Nov 17;61(5):1674-1688. doi: 10.1093/icb/icab105.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Penn State University, 201 Old Main, University Park, PA 16801, USA.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.
³ Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA.
⁴ Department of Mathematics, University of Akron, 302 E Buchtel Avenue, Akron, OH 44325, USA.
⁵ Department of Mathematics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2500 Campus Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
⁶ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.
⁷ Department of Integrative Biology, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA.
⁸ Ocean Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
⁹ School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 201 General Academic Building, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.

PMID: 34048537
DOI: 10.1093/icb/icab105

Abstract

Metachronal motion is used across a wide range of organisms for a diverse set of functions. However, despite its ubiquity, analysis of this behavior has been difficult to generalize across systems. Here we provide an overview of known commonalities and differences between systems that use metachrony to generate fluid flow. We also discuss strategies for standardizing terminology and defining future investigative directions that are analogous to other established subfields of biomechanics. Finally, we outline key challenges that are common to many metachronal systems, opportunities that have arisen due to the advent of new technology (both experimental and computational), and next steps for community development and collaboration across the nascent network of metachronal researchers.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomechanical Phenomena
Cilia*
Motion