Slime mold nuclei act as messenger pigeons, outpacing diffusion twenty-fold.

Some single cells contain many nuclei, the control centers holding genetic instructions. In the giant slime mold Physarum polycephalum, these cells can stretch across centimeters or more. This massive size makes it hard for distant nuclei to coordinate their actions quickly. To solve this mystery, researchers measured how nuclei and internal fluids move through the slime mold's network of tubes. They discovered that nuclei switch between two states. Some drift along with internal fluid streams, while others get stuck along the porous tube walls. As drifting nuclei slow down near the walls, they swap chemical messages with the stuck nuclei. The researchers compared this process to a pigeon post. Traveling nuclei act like carrier pigeons that shuttle signals between parked nuclei that serve as waypoints. This transport network carries signals up to twenty-fold faster than diffusive relay methods, explaining how giant cells reorganize so rapidly.

Why it matters

This reveals a new way cells coordinate across large distances. In organisms like slime molds, nuclei must communicate quickly, and this shows they use physical flow to shuttle signals, not just chemical diffusion. This could apply to other large cells and inspire synthetic systems.

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