Controlling Cell Motion and Microscale Flow with Polarized Light Fields

We investigate how light polarization affects the motion of photoresponsive algae, Euglena gracilis. In a uniformly polarized field, cells swim approximately perpendicular to the polarization direction and form a nematic state with zero mean velocity. When light polarization varies spatially, cell m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2021-02, Vol.126 (5), p.058001-058001, Article 058001
Main Authors: Yang, Siyuan, Huang, Mingji, Zhao, Yongfeng, Zhang, H P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brownian motion
Computational fluid dynamics
Euglena
Euglena gracilis - physiology
Fluid flow
Light
Models, Biological
Movement
Particle motion
Polarization
Polarized light
Spatial distribution
Swimming
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Summary:We investigate how light polarization affects the motion of photoresponsive algae, Euglena gracilis. In a uniformly polarized field, cells swim approximately perpendicular to the polarization direction and form a nematic state with zero mean velocity. When light polarization varies spatially, cell motion is modulated by local polarization. In such light fields, cells exhibit complex spatial distribution and motion patterns which are controlled by topological properties of the underlying fields; we further show that ordered cell swimming can generate directed transporting fluid flow. Experimental results are quantitatively reproduced by an active Brownian particle model in which particle motion direction is nematically coupled to local light polarization.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.058001