Analysis of the Swimming Motion of Tritrichomonas foetus: Key Insight for Bioinspiration

Tritrichomonas foetus is a multi-flagellated microorganism found in the urogenital tract of cattle and the etiological agent of bovine trichomoniasis. Trichomoniasis typically causes vaginitis, abortion, and infertility in cattle and the financial burden associated with the diagnosis and treatment of this pathogen is significant. Morphologically, the cell is characterized by a spindle-shaped body with three anterior flagella, and a recurrent flagellum that forms an undulating membrane. Previous studies have shown that the anterior flagella have a ciliary beating motion, while the recurrent flagellum beats with a sinusoidal waveform. Of particular interest is the counter-rotation between the anterior and posterior portion of the cell during forward motion. The goal of this study is to examine the swimming motion of T. foetususing millisecond microscopic techniques, and develop a model to explain how the cell is able to propel itself in a low-Reynold’s number environment using its unique morphology.

Based on the analysis, the majority of the thrust was generated by the anterior flagella, with the recurrent flagella playing only a minor role in propulsion. Based on analysis of the propulsive force per-beat, the swimming motion of T. foetus was found to be more efficient than Giardia despite the greater number of flagella possessed by the latter. Dynamics analysis based on the model was also able to determine the contribution of each of the flagella to the overall motion.

Based on this study, we have concluded that the swimming mechanism and morphology of T. foetus is more efficient than many other microorganisms.