Plankton microecology, or how physics rules the life of microorganisms

Authors

  • Òscar Guadayol University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.
  • Fouad El Baidouri University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.
  • Rudi Schuech University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

Keywords:

plankton, Reynolds number, viscosity, bacterial morphology.

Abstract

The physics experienced by microorganisms is non-intuitive to us. Aspects that bear no importance at large scales, such as viscosity, molecular diffusion, Brownian movement and kinematic reversibility, have a profound impact in all aspects of planktonic life, from nutrient dynamics to individual interactions. The consequences for the ecology and evolution of microorganisms are transcending. Here we briefly review the peculiarities of low Reynolds numbers physics and their implications to nutrient uptake and motility, and illustrate them with examples from our own research on the function of microbial shape. The incorporation of these concepts, along with new developments in numerical modelling, microfluidics and single-cell analyses, are leading us to a qualitative leap in our mechanistic understanding of how individual behaviour
affects the entire planktonic system.

Keywords: plankton, Reynolds number, viscosity, bacterial morphology.

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Author Biographies

Òscar Guadayol, University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

Physical Ecology Lab, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

Fouad El Baidouri, University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

Physical Ecology Lab, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

Rudi Schuech, University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

Physical Ecology Lab, School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Regne Unit.

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Issue

Vol. 69 (2019)

Section

Destacats de recerca

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