Steering self-organisation through confinement

Araújo, Nuno A. M.; Janssen, Liesbeth M. C.; Barois, Thomas; Boffetta, G.; Cohen, Itai; Corbetta, Alessandro; Dauchot, Olivier; Dijkstra, Marjolein; Durham, William M.; Dussutour, Audrey; Garnier, Simon; Gelderblom, Hanneke; Golestanian, Ramin; Isa, Lucio; Koenderink, Gijsje H.; Löwen, Hartmut; Metzler, Ralf; Polin, Marco; Royall, C. Patrick; Šarić, Anđela; Sengupta, Anupam; Sykes, Cécile; Trianni, Vito; Tuval, Idán; Vogel, Nicolas; Yeomans, Julia M.; Zuriguel, Iker; Marin, Alvaro; Volpe, Giorgio

doi:10.1039/d2sm01562e

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 87 publications

(105 reference statements)

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“…The OET system, which creates a virtual confinement through a light pattern, offers a convenient and adaptable method to systematically investigate the effects of confined environments on micromotors. From a fundamental research standpoint, confinement can impact the self-organization process of micromotors. , By actively varying the OET confinement, both spatially and temporally, it becomes feasible to steer the self-organization of micromotors. This approach will improve our understanding of self-organization in biological systems and can be applied to develop techniques for controlling self-organization in artificial systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steering Micromotors via Reprogrammable Optoelectronic Paths

Chen

El‐Sayed

et al. 2023

ACS Nano

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Steering micromotors is important for using them in practical applications and as model systems for active matter. This functionality often requires magnetic materials in the micromotor, taxis behavior of the micromotor, or the use of specifically designed physical boundaries. Here, we develop an optoelectronic strategy that steers micromotors with programmable light patterns. In this strategy, light illumination turns hydrogenated amorphous silicon conductive, generating local electric field maxima at the edge of the light pattern that attracts micromotors via positive dielectrophoresis. As an example, metallo-dielectric Janus microspheres that self-propelled under alternating current electric fields were steered by static light patterns along customized paths and through complex microstructures. Their long-term directionality was also rectified by ratchet-shaped light patterns. Furthermore, dynamic light patterns that varied in space and time enabled more advanced motion controls such as multiple motion modes, parallel control of multiple micromotors, and the collection and transport of motor swarms. This optoelectronic steering strategy is highly versatile and compatible with a variety of micromotors, and thus it possesses the potential for their programmable control in complex environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Steering Micromotors via Reprogrammable Optoelectronic Paths

Chen

El‐Sayed

et al. 2023

ACS Nano

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“…Recent studies suggest that the production of info-chemicals An alternative relevant mode of cell-to-cell chemical communication is the quorum sensing, wherein signalling molecules called autoinducers are released when local population density reaches a critical value, particularly under confinements [48,49]. So as to ascertain if the phytoplankton traits observed here emerges due to quorum sensing, we studied cells from continuous cultures at 48 h and 96 h of after inoculation (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoplankton tune local pH to actively modulate circadian swimming behavior

Ghoshal

Dhar

Grossart

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Diel vertical migration (DVM), the diurnal exodus of motile phytoplankton between the light- and nutrient-rich aquatic regions, is governed by endogenous biological clocks. Many species exhibit irregular DVM patterns wherein out-of-phase gravitactic swimming, relative to that expected due to the endogenous rhythm, is observed. How cells achieve and control this irregular swimming behavior remains poorly understood. Combining local environmental monitoring with behavioral and physiological analyses of motile bloom-forming Heterosigma akashiwo cells, we report that phytoplankton species modulate their DVM pattern by progressively tuning local pH, yielding physiologically equivalent yet behaviorally distinct gravitactic sub-populations which remain separated vertically within a visibly homogeneous cell distribution. Individual and population-scale tracking of the isolated top and bottom sub-populations revealed similar gravitactic (swimming speed and stability) and physiological traits (growth rate and maximum photosynthetic yield), suggesting that the sub-populations emerge due to mutual co-existence. Exposing the top (bottom) sub-population to the spent media of the bottom (top) counterpart recreates the emergent vertical distribution, while no such phenomenon was observed when the sub-populations were exposed to their own spent media. A model of swimming mechanics based on the quantitative analysis of cell morphologies confirms that the emergent sub-populations represent distinct swimming stabilities, resulting from morphological transformations after the cells are exposed to the spent media. Together with the corresponding night-time dataset, we present an integrated picture of the circadian swimming, wherein active chemo-regulation of the local environment underpins motility variations for potential ecological advantages via intraspecific division of labor over the day-night cycle. This chemo-regulated migratory trait offers mechanistic insights into the irregular diel migration, relevant particularly for modelling phytoplankton transport, fitness and adaptation as globally, ocean waters see a persistent drop in the mean pH.

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“…48 On the other hand, the study of various condensed matter systems inside confined geometry is also of physical and biological importance. [49][50][51][52][53][54] The various phenomena that follow are consequences of the interaction between the confining wall and the system, as well as the geometry of the confinement, which results in aggregation of the particles near the walls. [55][56][57][58][59] The presence of a wall leads to the formation of new phases which can be found only at extremely high pressure in bulk systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%