  Although the auger-like 'swimming' motility of the African trypanosome was
described upon its discovery over one hundred years ago, the precise
biomechanical and biophysical properties of trypanosome flagellar motion has
not been elucidated. In this study, we describe five different modes of
flagellar beat/wave patterns in African trypanosomes by microscopically
examining the flagellar movements of chemically tethered cells. The dynamic
nature of the different beat/wave patterns suggests that flagellar motion in
Trypanosoma brucei is a complex mixture of oscillating waves, rigid bends,
helical twists and non-linear waves. Interestingly, we have observed
soliton-like depression waves along the flagellar membrane, suggesting a
nonlinear mechanism for the dynamics of this system. The physical model is
inspired by the 2-dimensional elastic dynamics of a beam, and by taking into
account uniform distribution of molecular motors torque and nonlinear terms in
the curvature.
