COLLOQUIUM DFA: Raymond Goldstein

Speaker: Raymond Goldstein

Affiliation: University of Cambridge

Date: April 28^th  3 PM

Title: Cytoplasmic Streaming and the Swirling Instability of the Microtubule Cytoskeleton

Link INDICO indico.dfa.unipd.it/event/333/

Zoom Link https://unipd.link/ColloquiumDFA-28-04-2022

YouTube Link:

https://unipd.link/AulaRostagniUniPadovaDFA

Abstract:

Cytoplasmic streaming is the persistent circulation of the fluid contents of large eukaryotic cells, driven by the action of  molecular motors moving along cytoskeletal filaments, entraining fluid. Discovered in 1774 by Bonaventura Corti, it is now  recognized as a common phenomenon in a very broad range of model organisms, from plants to flies and worms. This talk  will discuss physical approaches to understanding this phenomenon through a combination of experiments (on aquatic  plants, Drosophila, and other active matter systems), theory, and computation.  A particular focus will be on streaming in  the Drosophila oocyte, for which I will describe a recently discovered “swirling instability” of the microtubule cytoskeleton.