Microswimming navigation in temperature and viscosity gradients

拟议的项目是为了研究真核和原核生物单细胞(如细菌、绿藻、精子细胞)在外部温度和粘度梯度下的运动性。已知游泳细胞对温度变化做出反应，并遵循温度梯度，这影响了种群密度的重新分布、生物膜的形成、感染的控制。对于精子细胞来说，粘度和温度梯度被认为是受精成功的重要指导线索。温度除了是游泳细胞可以通过特定受体感受到的外部信号外，还会改变环境的性质，如粘度或pH值。这使得热税和粘性税的问题内在地联系在一起。尽管细胞趋热现象已被证实[1]，但这一过程的细节和机制仍不清楚。然而，粘性很少被研究[2]。该项目的挑战是了解细胞在微观和种群水平上对温度和粘度变化的动态反应。这项研究将涉及在受控的微流体环境中对单个游泳细胞和群体行为进行多尺度测量，以及应用已确定的单个游泳者的微观运动机制对种群动态进行数学建模。在整个研究过程中，学生将学习和应用广泛的实验分析技术，如软光刻、微流体、视频显微镜、分子和微生物学方法、图像处理技术、布朗动力学模拟等。潜在的影响可以在设计防止生物污垢的新概念和改进人工授精技术中看到。欧元。黄永明，李永平，李晓波，等.北京：中国生物科学出版社，2002.Sherman等人的研究成果。FEMS微生物学通讯13,137(1982)EPSRCT项目与EPSRC的研究领域‘生物物理学和软物质物理’保持一致，因为感兴趣的问题涉及生物长度尺度，并与了解生物系统有关。工业和学术合作伙伴该项目涉及英国各地的工业和学术合作伙伴：谢菲尔大学波恩霍尔诊所的艾伦·佩西教授

The proposed project is for undertaking a research on eukaryotic and prokaryotic unicellular motility (e.g. bacteria, green algae, sperm cells) in external temperature and viscosity gradients. It has been known that swimming cells respond to temperature changes and follow temperature gradients, which affects the population density redistribution, biofilm formation, infection control. For the sperm cells, the viscosity and temperature gradients have been regarded as important guiding cues in fertilisation success. Temperature, apart from being an external signal which can be sensed by swimming cells through specific receptors, also alters properties of the environment, such as viscosity or pH. This makes problems of thermo- and visco- taxes intrinsically linked. Despite the well-established phenomena of cells thermotaxis [1], the details and mechanisms of the process remain unclear. Viscotaxis though has been barely studied [2]. The challenge of the project is to understand cell's dynamic response on microscopic and population levels to the temperature and viscosity variations. The research will involve multiscale measurements of individual swimming cells and ensemble behaviour in controlled microfluidic environment, as well as mathematical modelling of the population dynamics applying identified microscopic mechanisms of motion for individual swimmers. The student will to learn and apply a wide range of experimental analytical techniques, such as soft lithography, microfluidics, video-microscopy, molecular and micro-biology methods, image processing techniques, Brownian dynamics simulations etc. throughout the research. The potential impact can be seen in designing novel concepts for preventing biofouling, and improvement of artificial insemination techniques.References[1] M. R. Clegg et al. Eur. J. Phycol., 38, 195 (2003); H. Salman, A. Libchaber, Nature Cell Biology 9, 1098 (2007).[2] M.Yu. Sherman, et al. FEMS Microbiology Letters 13, 137 (1982)EPSRCThe project is aligned within EPSRC research area 'Biophysics and soft matter physics', as the problem of interest ranges across biological length scales and relates it to understanding biological systems.Industrial and academic partnersThe project involves industrial and academic partners across the UK:Prof. Allan Pacey, University of SheffieldBourn Hall ClinicGenus Breeding Inc