Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 7: Poster Session I

BP 7.26: Poster

Montag, 9. März 2026, 15:00–17:00, P5

Characterization of filamentous cyanobacteria using force-sensing micropipettes — •Paul Dufke and Stefan Karpitschka — Fachbereich Physik, Universtität Konstanz

Filamentous cyanobacteria strongly influence nearly all ecosystems, sometimes with harmful impacts. It is believed that their dominance is based on collective traits such as aggregation, entanglement and dispersal, but the details remain elusive. To understand the collective behaviour that arises in ensembles of many filaments, it is necessary to quantify the mechanical properties of individual filaments. We characterize their bending stiffness using force-sensing micropipettes with nanonewton resolution, quantifying three different species across various growth stages, which affect the filament diameter and thus their bending stiffness. The observed diameter dependence of the bending modulus suggests that most of the structural rigidity emerges from a thin region near the cell wall. The connection between culture age and mechanical properties indicates that modulations of flexural rigidity may also influence the collective behaviour at different stages in the life cycle of a colony.

Keywords: filamentous cyanobacteria; active polymers; force-sensing micropipettes