Quantification of Motion in Biological System: Collective Cell Migration and Motion in Fish Shoal

Malakar, Aniket (2022) Quantification of Motion in Biological System: Collective Cell Migration and Motion in Fish Shoal. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (MS dissertation of Aniket Malakar (17MS131)) 17MS131_Thesis_file.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (2MB)

Abstract

The study of complex patterns of motion in biological systems, ranging from the cellular the organism level necessitates the quantification of experimental data and the development of theoretical models with concrete predictions. In this report, we majorly analysed the collective motion at the cellular and organismal levels, focusing on two separate systems: (i) Border cell migration in the Drosophila egg chamber and (ii) collective motion of zebrafish shoals. We largely used statistical and physics-based numerical tools and microscopy techniques. A variety of imaging and genetic studies have shown important physiological factors affecting border cell migration. Our overall aim was to quantify the border cell dynamics and then develop a computational model based on our observations. We initially developed a methodology for image acquisition, constructing the appropriate experimental lines, and performing in vitro 3D live imaging of border cell movement. We quantified the positional swapping of border cells within the border cell cluster throughout the course of migration. Our observations hint that nurse cell junction might have an important mechanical role in leader cell switching. On the other hand, we investigated the collective motion of Zebrafish shoals under different environmental conditions, such as varying visual and/or olfactory cues, representing a predator species. Here our goal was to understand how the shoal responds to a predatory threat by connecting the individual swimming behavior of adult zebrafish with the group behaviour. We calculated some metrics to describe both individual swimming and collective swimming. We also performed a network analysis of the zebrafish shoals. Our observations imply that the presence of either of the cues (visual or olfactory) may make the group more cohesive and polarized in nature.

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