Abstract
The mechanism by which living organisms seek optimal light conditions—phototaxis—is a fundamental process for motile photosynthetic microbes. It is involved in a broad array of natural processes and applications from bloom formation to the production of high-value chemicals in photobioreactors. Here, we show that a population of the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exhibits a highly sensitive nonlinear response to light and demonstrate that the self-organization of cells in a heterogeneous environment becomes unstable as the result of a coupling between bioconvective flows and phototaxis.
- Received 19 January 2022
- Accepted 23 March 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.258101
© 2022 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Viewpoint
Complex Dance of Light-Seeking Algae in Light Gradients
Published 21 June 2022
A population of photosynthetic algae has been shown to exhibit a highly nonlinear response to light, forming dynamic structures in light-intensity gradients.
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