Formation of a Single Bioconvection Spot in Euglena Suspension Induced by Negative Phototaxis

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Yamashita, Hiroshi, Yamaguchi, Takayuki, Suematsu, Nobuhiko J., Izumi, Shunsuke, Iima, Makoto
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Yamashita, Hiroshi
Yamaguchi, Takayuki
Suematsu, Nobuhiko J.
Izumi, Shunsuke
Iima, Makoto
author_facet Yamashita, Hiroshi
Yamaguchi, Takayuki
Suematsu, Nobuhiko J.
Izumi, Shunsuke
Iima, Makoto
contents Microorganisms are known to alter their motility in response to external stimuli. A typical example is the responseknown as taxis, which includes behaviors such as moving toward a light source (positive phototaxis) or away from it(negative phototaxis). In this study, we focused on bioconvection induced by the negative phototaxis of a Euglenasuspension exposed to strong light from the bottom. Recent studies have revealed that Euglena bioconvectioninduced by negative phototaxis exhibits localized structure. In a previous study, we found that a single Euglenabioconvection spot (EBC spot) maintains its structure in a cylindrical container. Such a localized structure is notexclusive to Euglena, but has also reported in red tide algae, suggesting that this is a universal feature ofbioconvection phenomena. In this paper, we investigated the formation conditions of EBC spot phenomena throughexperiments and numerical simulations. In the experiments, we examined the variation in EBC spot formation as afunction of suspension height and average cell density, revealing that the critical average cell density increases withsuspension height. In the numerical simulations, we conducted bioconvection simulations based on a model ofEuglena motility that incorporated three types of behavior: the negative gravitaxis, negative phototaxis, andbehavior of moving toward darker areas. Our model successfully reproduced the localized state of a two-dimensional EBC spot. Furthermore, calculations corresponding to the experimental conditions of suspension heightand average cell density revealed that the critical average cell density for bioconvection decreases as thesuspension height increases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11178
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Formation of a Single Bioconvection Spot in Euglena Suspension Induced by Negative Phototaxis
Yamashita, Hiroshi
Yamaguchi, Takayuki
Suematsu, Nobuhiko J.
Izumi, Shunsuke
Iima, Makoto
Fluid Dynamics
Biological Physics
Microorganisms are known to alter their motility in response to external stimuli. A typical example is the responseknown as taxis, which includes behaviors such as moving toward a light source (positive phototaxis) or away from it(negative phototaxis). In this study, we focused on bioconvection induced by the negative phototaxis of a Euglenasuspension exposed to strong light from the bottom. Recent studies have revealed that Euglena bioconvectioninduced by negative phototaxis exhibits localized structure. In a previous study, we found that a single Euglenabioconvection spot (EBC spot) maintains its structure in a cylindrical container. Such a localized structure is notexclusive to Euglena, but has also reported in red tide algae, suggesting that this is a universal feature ofbioconvection phenomena. In this paper, we investigated the formation conditions of EBC spot phenomena throughexperiments and numerical simulations. In the experiments, we examined the variation in EBC spot formation as afunction of suspension height and average cell density, revealing that the critical average cell density increases withsuspension height. In the numerical simulations, we conducted bioconvection simulations based on a model ofEuglena motility that incorporated three types of behavior: the negative gravitaxis, negative phototaxis, andbehavior of moving toward darker areas. Our model successfully reproduced the localized state of a two-dimensional EBC spot. Furthermore, calculations corresponding to the experimental conditions of suspension heightand average cell density revealed that the critical average cell density for bioconvection decreases as thesuspension height increases.
title Formation of a Single Bioconvection Spot in Euglena Suspension Induced by Negative Phototaxis
topic Fluid Dynamics
Biological Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11178