Publications

The cell biology and genome of Stentor pyriformis, a giant cell that embeds symbiotic algae in a microtubule meshwork

V Boudreau*, AR Albright*, BT Larson, TM Gerbich, T Fadero, V Yan, A Lucas-DeMott, J Yung, SLY Moulin, CP Descovich, MM Slabodnick, A Burlacot, JR Wang, KK Niyogi, WF Marshall

MBoC 36 (4) Link

* denotes equal contribution

2025

Mixed clonal-aggregative multicellularity entrained by extreme salinity fluctuations in a close relative of animals

N Ros-Rocher, J Reyes-Rivera, Y Foroughijabbari, C Combredet, BT Larson, MC Coyle, EAT Houtepen, MJA Vermeij, N King, T Brunet

bioRxiv Link

2024

Cell motility: Bioelectric control of behavior without neurons

BT Larson, WF Marshall

Curr. Biol. 34 (4) Link

2024

Swimming, feeding and inversion of multicellular choanoflagellate sheets

L Fung, A Konkol, T Ishikawa, BT Larson, T Brunet, RE Goldstein

Phys. Rev. Let. 131 (168401) Link

2023

Perspectives on principles of cellular behavior from the biophysics of protists

BT Larson

Integ. Comp. Biol. 63 (6) Link

2023

A unicellular walker controlled by a microtubule-based finite-state machine

BT Larson, J Garbus, JB Pollack, WF Marshall

Curr. Biol. 32 (17). Link

Popular press: New Scientist, UCSF News

2022

A hydraulic instability drives the cell death decision in the nematode germline

NT Chartier*, A Mukherjee*, J Pfanzelter*, S Fürthauer, BT Larson, AW Fritsch, M Kreysing, F Jülicher, SW Grill

Nat. Phys. 1-6 PDF

* denotes equal contribution

Highlighted in journal: Nature Physics

2021

Biophysical principles of choanoflagellate self-organization

BT Larson, T Ruiz-Herrero, S Li, S Kumar, L Mahadevan, N King

PNAS 117 (3). PDF

2020

Light-regulated collective contractility in a multicellular choanoflagellate

T Brunet*, BT Larson*, TA Linden*, MJA Vermeij, KL McDonald, N King

Science 366 (6463). PDF

* denotes equal contribution

Highlighted in journals: Science, eLife, and Current Biology

Popular press: Scientific American, Science News, and Science Daily

2019

The architecture of cell differentiation in choanoflagellates and sponge choanocytes

D Laundon, BT Larson, KL McDonald, N King, P Burkhardt

PLOS Biology 17 (4). PDF

2019

Systematic spatial mapping of proteins at exocytic and endocytic structures

BT Larson, KA Sochacki, JM Kindem, JW Taraska

MBoC 25 (13). PDF

2014

Lessons from environmental ethics about the intrinsic value of synthetic life

MA Bedau and BT Larson

GA Kaebnick and TH Murray (Ed.)

Synthetic biology and morality: artificial life and the bounds of nature, MIT Press. Link

2013

Imaging the post-fusion release and capture of a vesicle membrane protein

KA Sochacki, BT Larson, DC Sengupta, MP Daniels, G Shtengel, HF Hess, JW Taraska

Nature Communications 3 (1). PDF

2012

PLOS Biology cover image, Davis Laundon and Pawel Burkhardt