title: The ciliate Paramecium shows higher motility in non-uniform chemical landscapes.
abstract: We study the motility behavior of the unicellular protozoan Paramecium tetraurelia in a microfluidic device that can be prepared with a landscape of attracting or repelling chemicals. We investigate the spatial distribution of the positions of the individuals at different time points with methods from spatial statistics and Poisson random point fields. This makes quantitative the informal notion of "uniform distribution" (or lack thereof). Our device is characterized by the absence of large systematic biases due to gravitation and fluid flow. It has the potential to be applied to the study of other aquatic chemosensitive organisms as well. This may result in better diagnostic devices for environmental pollutants.
authors.affiliation: Great Lakes WATER Institute, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America.
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giuffre
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hinow
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: Tanvir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stocker
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Consi
authors.forename: J Rudi
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Strickler
mesh_terms: D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D009068:Movement / Q000187:drug effects*; D010247:Paramecium / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D002630:Chemotactic Factors