Figure 7. Simulation predicts sideways symmetry breaking and motility for symmetrically coated Listeria and ellipsoids.

(A–D) Simulation with nucleation localized to only one half shows motion in the direction of the long axis of the Listeria. (A–C) Time series during motion. (C) also shows regularly spaced and timed speckle tracks that show trajectory and deformations of the network (see Video S19). (D) 3-D network trajectory showing no orthogonal squeezing (see Figure S8). (E–H) Time series of simulation for uniformly nucleating Listeria shows sideways symmetry breaking and motility (see Video S20) (side and top view of same run shown). (I) Network trajectory prior to symmetry breaking shows network being drawn towards poles of the capsule. (J and K) Circumferential link forces around the capsule split into components as shown (plotted to the same scale). Circumferential tension builds up preferentially around the long axis. (L) 3-D view of ellipsoid simulation after symmetry breaking showing sideways motion (see Video S21). Network density shown by isosurfaces: high density (green) and low density (semitransparent). (M) 2-D projection and (N) 3-D reconstruction of an in vitro ellipsoid experiment after symmetry breaking showing sideways symmetry break.