In the blob, aging could be reversible!

17 March 2023 par webmaster
In a new study, Audrey Dussutour, Angèle Rolland, Emilie Pasquier, Paul Malvezin, Cassandra Craig and Mathilde Dumas (CRCA-CBI) studied how the behavior of the slime mold Physarum Polycephalum, a unicellular organism, varies over the lifetime of individuals, and they showed that aging in the blob might be partially reversible.
© David VILLA / ScienceImage, CBI / CRCA / CNRS

How behaviour changes with correlates of age in unicellular organisms remains an open question.

The main reason for this might be that single-cell organisms were mistakenly believed to be short-lived and immune to ageing.

It has now been demonstrated that some unicellular organisms such as bacteria, paramecia and yeast, undergo intrinsic changes over time that affect their behavior and physiology.

In this study, Audrey Dussutour, Angèle Rolland, Emilie Pasquier, Paul Malvezin, Cassandra Craig and Mathilde Dumas (CRCA-CBI) studied how the behavior of the slime mold Physarum Polycephalum, a unicellular organism, varies over the lifetime of individuals, and they showed that aging in the blob might be partially reversible.

En haut : vitesse de déplacement des blobs en fonction de l’âge. Six groupes de blobs de différents âges (1, 17, 32, 54, 74 et 94 semaines) ont été utilisés pour réaliser cette expérience. Les substrats étaient constitués de gel d’avoine. En bas : Vitesse de déplacement des blobs avant et après la fusion d’un blob âgé et d’un blob jeune. Les substrats étaient constitués de gel d’avoine. © Audrey Dussutour CBI / CNRS

Reference

Behavioural changes in slime moulds over time

A. Rolland, E. Pasquier, P. Malvezin, C. Craig, M. Dumas et A. Dussutour

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B le 20 février 2023. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0063

More information

https://www.insb.cnrs.fr/fr/cnrsinfo/chez-le-blob-le-vieillissement-pourrait-etre-reversible

Contact

Audrey Dussutour

 

See also