1. Tuning bacterial hydrodynamics with magnetic fields
- Author
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Steven K. Lower, Brian H. Lower, Jack Brangham, Ratnasingham Sooryakumar, Christopher Pierce, E. E. Brown, Fengyuan Yang, and Eric Mumper
- Subjects
Surface (mathematics) ,Materials science ,Magnetotactic bacteria ,Magnetism ,Movement ,Bacterial motility ,Magnetosome ,02 engineering and technology ,equipment and supplies ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Models, Biological ,01 natural sciences ,Quantitative Biology::Cell Behavior ,Magnetic field ,Quantitative Biology::Subcellular Processes ,Magnetic Fields ,Torque ,Chemical physics ,0103 physical sciences ,Hydrodynamics ,Magnetic nanoparticles ,Magnetospirillum ,010306 general physics ,0210 nano-technology ,human activities - Abstract
Magnetotactic bacteria are a group of motile prokaryotes that synthesize chains of lipid-bound, magnetic nanoparticles called magnetosomes. This study exploits their innate magnetism to investigate previously unexplored facets of bacterial hydrodynamics at surfaces. Through use of weak, uniform, external magnetic fields and local, micromagnetic surface patterns, the relative strength of hydrodynamic, magnetic, and flagellar force components is tuned through magnetic control of the bacteria's orientation. The resulting swimming behaviors provide a means to experimentally determine hydrodynamic parameters and offer a high degree of control over large numbers of living microscopic entities. The implications of this controlled motion for studies of bacterial motility near surfaces and for micro- and nanotechnology are discussed.
- Published
- 2017
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