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BUILD · REMODEL · GROW

Actin Builder

Pollen Tube Edition / University cell biology

SIX LIVING SYSTEMS

Build a network that can renew itself.

ACTIVE PLAYING TIME2:30

Choose a mission to begin your investigation.

ILLUSTRATIVE LIVE MODEL
Cell wallPlasma membraneF-actinSecretory vesicle+ / − filament polarity, not charge
Arrival / s0.00
Fusion / s0.00
Extension0.0
Turnover / s0.00
Apical queue0.0
Focused time0 s

All values are teaching units. Rates are per playing second, not experimentally measured biological rates.

● Arrival● FusionSeparate processes / last 60 playing seconds
Conserved actin pool100.0 units total

ATP-G → ATP-F → ADP-Pi-F → ADP-F → fragments → ADP-G → ATP-G. Severing, disassembly and exchange are separate modeled steps.

No mission running.

Wall mechanics and turgor

Turgor provides the force for expansion; local wall properties constrain where the tube extends. Actin supports intracellular organization and focused secretion. The animation does not represent actin pushing the wall or the tube crawling. Wall chemistry and pressure remain background conditions in this model.

BEFORE YOUR INTERVENTION

Baseline evidence record

Authored baseline observations remain available for diagnosis even after you repair the system. Use live readouts to evaluate your intervention.

Scientific scope and primary research

Arabidopsis pollen-tube teaching model. Literature includes other pollen species, biochemical assays and expression experiments; each reference lists its context. All observations, timings and parameters are illustrative. A static F-actin signal does not establish turnover, transport or fusion. Plant profilin is not universally assigned strong nucleotide-exchange activity; CAP1-assisted recycling is represented explicitly. Class XI motors are used without animal myosin-II contraction or an animal lamellipodium.

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    ACTIN BUILDER / POLLEN TUBE EDITION

    Choose a living-system challenge

    Manage a renewable actin network, distinguish cargo delivery from secretion, and support focused tip growth. Each mission allows 150 seconds of active play.

    Help and evidence panels pause playing time. A time limit leaves objectives incomplete; it never kills or ruptures the tube.

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    FIELD GUIDE

    How to play

    1. Select a mission and read its baseline evidence.
    2. Choose a regulatory tool and an allowed activity zone. Use Place / activate here, then adjust its activity slider.
    3. Inspect organization, turnover, transport, secretion and growth separately. Arrival is not fusion.
    4. Balance ADF remodeling and CAP1 recycling with assembly. Build a renewable network rather than maximizing every control.
    5. Adjust the tip domain when the guidance cue changes. Previously formed tube segments remain in place.
    6. Finish once the system target is complete, or at the time limit. Diagnose the baseline bottleneck, select two observations and explain the mechanism and measurement limit.

    Controls: mouse or touch; keyboard Tab selects controls, Space activates buttons and arrow keys adjust sliders. P pauses and M toggles sound when focus is outside inputs. Tools respond immediately. Click or tap the specimen to select an anatomical zone. Help, menus, assessment and background-tab pauses stop active time.

    Actin polarity: barbed (+) and pointed (−) ends describe structure, not electrical charge. Assembly and subsequent ATP hydrolysis/phosphate release are distinct; hydrolysis is not a piston pushing the wall. Opposite cargo flow is schematic streaming and track organization, not a motor reversing its intrinsic polarity on one filament.

    EVIDENCE-BASED EXPLANATION

    Identify the limiting process

    1 / Diagnose the authored baseline
    2 / Select exactly two supporting observations
    3 / Explain why the intervention helps
    4 / Recognize a measurement limit