Co-operative and concentrative phenomena of swimming micro-organisms

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Abstract
This paper describes linear and co-operative phenomena based on the dynamics of the trajectories of swimming cells. The swimming direction of algal cells can be guided so as to focus the cells into a concentrated beam. This directed locomotion, or taxis, results from the orientation of the cells' axes by compensating gravitational and viscous torques. It is named gyrotaxis because of this origin. The effect can be used to concentrate cells and to separate them from each other on the basis of their shape and behaviour. The spontaneous generation and maintenance of coherent structures, plumes and regular spatial arrays of cell concentration and fluid convection, are demonstrated and discussed in the context of dynamic cooperative processes exhibited by other physical systems.