Pruning to Increase Taylor Dispersion in Physarum polycephalum Networks.
How do the topology and geometry of a tubular network affect the spread of particles within fluid flows? We investigate patterns of effective dispersion in the hierarchical, biological transport network formed by Physarum polycephalum. We demonstrate that a change in topology-pruning in the foraging state-causes a large increase in effective dispersion throughout the network. By comparison, changes in the hierarchy of tube radii result in smaller and more localized differences. Pruned networks capitalize on Taylor dispersion to increase the dispersion capability.
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|International Centre for Fundamental Physics, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, 75005 Paris, France.
Sophie
S
Marbach
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Karen
K
Alim
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.|Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Natalie
N
Andrew
Departments of Botany and Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
Anne
A
Pringle
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Michael P
MP
Brenner
D001692:Biological Transport; D008954:Models, Biological; D016839:Physarum polycephalum