Quorum Sensing in Emulsion Droplet Swarms Driven by a Surfactant Competition System.

ABSTRACT: Quorum sensing enables unicellular organisms to probe their population density and perform behavior that exclusively occurs above a critical density. Quorum sensing is established in emulsion droplet swarms that float at a water surface and cluster above a critical density. The design involves competition between 1) a surface tension gradient that is generated upon release of a surfactant from the oil droplets, and thereby drives their mutual repulsion, and 2) the release of a surfactant precursor from the droplets, that forms a strong imine surfactant which suppresses the surface tension gradient and thereby causes droplet clustering upon capillary (Cheerios) attraction. The production of the imine-surfactant depends on the population density of the droplets releasing the precursor so tha

SUBMITTER: de Visser PJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11321703 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature