Microswimming navigation in temperature and viscosity gradients

拟进行真核生物和原核生物单细胞运动（如细菌、绿藻、精子细胞）在外部温度和粘度梯度下的研究。已知游动细胞对温度变化有响应并遵循温度梯度，从而影响种群密度再分布、生物膜形成和感染控制。对于精子细胞，粘度和温度梯度被认为是受精成功的重要指导线索。温度除了是游动细胞通过特定受体感知的外部信号外，还会改变环境的特性，如粘度或ph值。这使得热和粘度税的问题内在地联系在一起。尽管细胞热致性[1]的现象已被证实，但这一过程的细节和机制仍不清楚。粘滞性几乎没有被研究过。该项目的挑战在于了解细胞在微观和群体水平上对温度和粘度变化的动态响应。该研究将涉及个体游泳细胞的多尺度测量和受控微流体环境中的整体行为，以及应用确定的个体游泳者微观运动机制对种群动力学进行数学建模。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染的新概念和改进人工授精技术方面看到。参考文献b[1]克莱格先生等。欧元。j . Phycol。， 38,195 (2003)；李晓明，李晓明，李晓明，等。中国生物医学工程学报，2009,32 (4):481 - 481M.Yu。谢尔曼等人。FEMS微生物学快报13,137 (1982)EPSRC该项目与EPSRC研究领域“生物物理学和软物质物理学”保持一致，因为感兴趣的问题范围跨越生物长度尺度，并将其与理解生物系统联系起来。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。Allan Pacey，谢菲尔德大学伯恩霍尔临床育种公司

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