Helical swimming can provide robust upwards transport for gravitactic single-cell algae; a mechanistic model

Abstract

In still fluid, many phytoplankton swim in helical paths with an average upwards motion. A new mechanistic model for gravitactic algae subject to an intrinsic torque is developed here, based on Heterosigma akashiwo, which results in upwards helical trajectories in still fluid. The resultant upwards swimming speed is calculated as a function of the gravitactic and intrinsic torques. Helical swimmers have a reduced upwards speed in still fluid compared to cells which swim straight upwards. However a novel result is obtained when the effect of fluid shear is considered. For intermediate values of shear and intrinsic torque, a new stable equilibrium solution for swimming direction is obtained for helical swimmers. This results in positive upwards transport in vertical shear flow, in contrast to the stable equilibrium solution for straight swimmers which results in downwards transport in vertical shear flow. Furthermore, for strong intrinsic torque, when there is no longer a stable orientation equilibrium, we show that the average downwards transport of helical swimmers in vertical shear flow is greatly suppressed compared to straight swimmers. We hypothesise that helical swimming provides robustness for upwards transport in the presence of fluid shearing motions.