Physical Aspects of Microorganism Cooperation

Knut Drescher

DAMTP
University of Cambridge

I will present theoretical and experimental work on several physical challenges that motile aquatic microorganisms face. In particular, I will show how the autonomous cells of the spherical alga Volvox, a colonial organism without a central nervous system, coordinate to achieve high-fidelity phototactic steering of the colony as a whole. In addition, I will show how several Volvox colonies can interact hydrodynamically to form 'dancing' bound states, and how the fluid flow around a freely swimming individual can de understood. Finally, I will describe how the flagellar coordination of Chlamydomonas, the unicellular ancestor of Volvox, leads to the swimming behavior of individuals and populations.