video: Hokkaido University researcher Assistant Professor Yukinori Nishigami and his collaborators study the complex behavioral patterns of seemingly simple, single-celled ciliates. They found out that they employ only simple mechanosensing in a body of just the right shape to switch "intelligently" between swimming in bulk water to grazing for food on surfaces.
Based on the publications:
Nishigami et al.: Influence of cellular shape on sliding behavior-of ciliates (Comm Integr Biol 11, 2018)?https://doi.org/10.1080/19420889.2018.1506666
Ohmura, Nishigami et al.: Simple mechanosense and response-of cilia motion reveal the intrinsic habits of ciliates (PNAS 115, 2018)?https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1718294115
Yanase, Nishigami et al.: The neck deformation of Lacrymaria olor-depending upon cell states (JProt 51, 2018)?https://doi.org/10.18980/jop.e001
Credit: Public Relations Division, Hokkaido University