Active lipids enable intelligent swimming under nutrient limitation

Biophysicists from the University of Luxembourg have uncovered how microplankton - key photosynthetic organisms which produce nearly 50% of the oxygen we breathe - adopt a thrifty lifestyle when nutrients turn limiting. They strategically harness internal lipids to regulate swimming properties to maximise their fitness. Prof. Anupam Sengupta and his team discovered this evolutionary trick by monitoring harmful bloom-forming phytoplankton species, using multi-scale quantitative imaging techniques, analytical and physiological measurements, fluid dynamic simulations and mathematical modelling. Precise tracking of the intracellular organelles (both size and position within cells) and the swimming behaviour reveal an emergent synergy between active lipid movement and cell-shape that ultimately enables microplankton to navigate dynamic nutrient landscapes. The groundbreaking findings appear in Science Advances. Figure 1. Active regulation of lipid droplets (LD; N is the cell nucleus) enables intelligent swimming in phytoplankton.