Fluxes of energy generate active forces in living matter, yet also active fluctuations. As a canonical example, collections of molecular motors exhibit spontaneous oscillations with frequency jitter caused by nonequilibrium phase fluctuations. We investigate phase fluctuations in reactivated Chlamydomonas reinhardtii axonemes, which are accessible to direct manipulation. We quantify the precision of axonemal oscillations after controlled chemical removal of dynein motors, providing an experimental test for the theory prediction that the quality factor of motor oscillations should increase with motor number. Our quantification reveals specialized roles of inner and outer arm dynein motors. This supports a model in which inner dyneins serve as master pace-makers, to which outer arm dyneins become entrained, consistent with recent insight provided by structural biology.

中文翻译：

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轴丝振荡的主动波动随动力电机的数量而变化


能量的流动在生物中产生主动力，但也会产生主动波动。作为一个典型的例子，分子马达的集合表现出由非平衡相位波动引起的自发振荡和频率抖动。我们研究了重新激活的莱茵衣藻轴丝的相位波动，这些轴丝可以直接操作。我们量化了动力蛋白电机受控化学去除后轴丝振荡的精度，为电机振荡的品质因数应随电机数量增加的理论预测提供了实验检验。我们的定量揭示了内臂和外臂动力电机的特殊作用。这支持了一个模型，其中内动力蛋白充当主起搏器，外臂动力蛋白被夹带，这与结构生物学最近提供的见解一致。