The biomechanical role of overall-shape transformation in a primitive multicellular organism: A case study of dimorphism in the filamentous cyanobacterium Arthrospira platensis

Morphological transformations in primitive organisms have long been observed; however, its biomechanical roles are largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate the structural advantages of dimorphism in Arthrospira platensis, a filamentous multicellular cyanobacterium. We report that helical trichomes, the default shape, have a higher persistence length (L(p)), indicating a higher resistance to bending or a large value of flexural rigidity (k(f)), the product of the local cell stiffness (E) and the moment of inertia of the trichomes’ cross-section (I). Through Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), we determined that the E of straight and helical trichomes were the same. In contrast, our computational model shows that I is greatly dependent on helical radii, implying that trichome morphology is the major contributor to k(f) variation. According to our estimation, increasing the helical radii alone can increase k(f) by 2 orders of magnitude. We also observe that straight trichomes have improved gliding ability, due to its structure and lower k(f). Our study shows that dimorphism provides mechanical adjustability to the organism and may allow it to thrive in different environmental conditions. The higher k(f) provides helical trichomes a better nutrient uptake through advection in aquatic environments. On the other hand, the lower k(f) improves the gliding ability of straight trichomes in aquatic environments, enabling it to chemotactically relocate to more favorable territories when it encounters certain environmental stresses. When more optimal conditions are encountered, straight trichomes can revert to their original helical form. Our study is one of the first to highlight the biomechanical role of an overall-shape transformation in cyanobacteria.