Gravity-Dependent Changes in Bioconvection ofTetrahymenaandChlamydomonasDuring Parabolic Flight: Increases in Wave Number Induced by Pre- and Post-Parabola Hypergravity

Abstract

Bioconvection emerges in a dense suspension of swimming protists as a consequence of their negative-gravitactic upward migration and later settling as a blob of density greater than that of water. Thus, gravity is an important parameter governing bioconvective pattern formation. However, inconsistencies are found in previous studies dealing with the response of bioconvection patterns to increased gravity acceleration (hypergravity); the wave number of the patterns has been reported to decrease during the hypergravity phases of parabolic aircraft flight, while it increases in centrifugal hypergravity. In this paper, we reassess the responses of bioconvection to altered gravity during parabolic flight on the basis of vertical and horizontal observations of the patterns formed by Tetrahymena thermophila and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Spatiotemporal analyses of the horizontal patterns revealed an increase in the pattern wave number in both pre- and post-parabola hypergravity. Vertical pattern analysis was generally in line with the horizontal pattern analysis, and further revealed that hypergravity-induced changes preceded at the top layer of the suspensions while microgravity-induced changes appeared to occur from the bottom part of the settling blobs. The responses to altered gravity were rather different between the two sample species: T. thermophila tended to drastically modify its bioconvection patterns in response to changes in gravity level, while the patterns of C. reinhardtii responded to a much lesser extent. This difference can be attributed to the distinct physical and physiological properties of the individual organisms, suggesting a significant contribution of the gyrotactic property to the swimming behavior of some protists.

Drastic reorganization of bioconvection pattern of Chlamydomonas: Quantitative analysis of the pattern transition response

“…It also showed that the 'bottle-shaped' settling blobs are formed in SS1 (Fig. 6A, 5 min), as reported previously (Hosoya et al, 2010;Kage et al, 2011). At the moment the pattern transition response occurred (Fig.…”

“…Vertical observation (Fig. 6A, left column) showed that the onset of pattern formation occurs after the accumulation of the cells at the top of the chamber (0-2 min), as reported in previous studies (Hosoya et al, 2010;Kage et al, 2011). It also showed that the 'bottle-shaped' settling blobs are formed in SS1 (Fig.…”

“…In order to understand the bulk motion of C. reinhardtii, we used the space-time plot method as in Kage et al (Kage et al, 2011). Following the method introduced by Mogami et al (Mogami et al, 2004), a narrow rectangular region was cut out from a stack of images and then the regions were pasted together following the time sequence.…”

“…In previous experiments we used a quasi-planer vertical chamber for the observation of vertical convective movement (Hosoya et al, 2010;Kage et al, 2011). In a narrow chamber (1 mm width), downward plumes were formed in suspensions of C. reinhardtii as well as Tetrahymena, which allowed us to observe the vertical movement of the cell populations.…”

“…In a narrow chamber (1 mm width), downward plumes were formed in suspensions of C. reinhardtii as well as Tetrahymena, which allowed us to observe the vertical movement of the cell populations. In altered gravity during the parabolic flight, the plumes were observed to change their shapes and the position in the chamber in response to the changes in gravitational acceleration (Kage et al, 2011).…”