Green algae scatter off sharp viscosity gradients

Simone Coppola,Vasily Kantsler

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-79887-7

Abstract

We study the behaviour of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CR) in the presence of neighbouring regions of different viscosity. We show that the velocity and angular diffusion of the algae decreases when the viscosity of the surrounding medium is increased. We report on a phenomenon occurring when the algae try to cross from a region of low viscosity to a highly viscous one, which causes CR to re-orient and scatter away from the interface if it is approached at a sufficiently small angle. We highlight that the effect does not occur for CR crossing from high to low viscosity regions. Lastly we show that algae do not concentrate in the region of high viscosity despite them swimming slower there. On the contrary, they concentrate in the region of low viscosity or maintain a uniform concentration profile, depending on the viscosity ratio between the two regions.

Highlights

We study the behaviour of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CR) in the presence of neighbouring regions of different viscosity
For example Liebchen et al.[6] showed how certain body shapes can lead to negative viscotaxis due to a systematic imbalance of the viscous forces acting on the microswimmer
We measure how the swimming velocity distribution V(y) across the microfluidics device changes as a function of time

Summary

Introduction

We study the behaviour of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (CR) in the presence of neighbouring regions of different viscosity. We analyse how the velocity and angular diffusion of the algae change as the viscosity of the medium is increased, expanding previously published experimental results and predictions made on the m atter[10].

Results

Conclusion