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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 4: Active Matter I (joint session BP/CPP/DY)
DY 4.3: Vortrag
Montag, 9. März 2026, 10:00–10:15, BAR/SCHÖ
Adhesion Patterns in Gliding Filamentous Cyanobacteria — •Elias Fischer1, Paul Nieschwitz2, Stefan Karpitschka2, and Holger Stark1 — 1Institute of Physics and Astronomy, TU Berlin, Germany — 2Department of Physics, Universität Konstanz, Germany
Filamentous cyanobacteria play an important role in many ecosystems and the carbon cycle of our planet. They exhibit gliding motility when in contact with solid surfaces or each other. Despite their ecological relevance and increased use in biotech applications, the exact nature of the force-generating process remains not fully understood.
Our recent measurements of filamentous cyanobacteria gliding across flat surfaces and visualized in kymographs show spatio-temporal adhesion regions along the filament, indicating an intrinsic helical shape. Based on our a novel approach for modeling the mechanical aspects of individual cyanobacteria filaments, we are able to interpret the complex kymograph patterns. Each filament is modeled as a helical chain of thin cylindrical segments in 3D with bending and twisting elasticity. The filaments interact with nearby surfaces and filaments via a hard-core repulsion and an exponentially decaying adhesion force. Importantly, the propulsion forces that push the filament forward are only applied locally at surface-contacting segments.
Our simulated kymographs reveal how both the helical shape and the adhesion strength strongly influence the filament's gliding speed and the dynamics of the surface-attachment regions. Thereby, we crucially contribute to the understanding of how real filamentous cyanobacteria generate their propulsion forces.
Keywords: filamentous cyanobacteria; active matter; gliding motility; kymograph