Assess generality of pseudopod-based navigation strategies beyond amoeboid cells

Establish whether the pseudopod-splitting–based, persistence-driven chemotaxis strategies characterized by stimulus-dependent actin recruitment contests and learned pseudopod suppression are applicable to ciliated microorganisms and to collective (group) chemotaxis.

Background

The paper proposes that mechanical intelligence arising from pseudopod competition and actin dynamics can drive effective chemotaxis without direct spatial sensing or memory. It demonstrates strategy adaptations via reinforcement learning, including persistence-based suppression policies that improve performance in shallow gradients.

While the paper suggests relevance to various organisms exhibiting protrusive motility and mentions broader biological contexts, the authors explicitly note uncertainty about whether these navigation strategies extend to ciliated microorganisms or to collective chemotaxis, highlighting an open avenue for testing the generality of the framework.