Abstract
Burgeoning interest in the area of bacteria-powered micro robotic systems prompted us to study the dynamics of cargo transport by single bacteria. In this paper, we have studied the swimming behaviour of oil-droplets attached as cargo to the cell bodies of single bacteria. The oil-droplet loaded bacteria exhibit super-diffusive motion which is characterised by a high degree of directional persistence. Interestingly, bacteria could navigate with cargo size as large as 8 μm resulting in an increased rotational drag of more than 2 orders when compared to the free bacteria. The directional change of cargo loaded bacterial trajectories seems to be enhanced by steric hindrance from other oil-droplets present in the environment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 9499-9505 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Soft Matter |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 41 |
| Early online date | 20 Aug 2020 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 7 Nov 2020 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- Condensed Matter Physics