Transport of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Polymer Solutions

Bacteria often live surrounded by polymer solutions, such as in animal respiratory, gastrointestinal, and reproductive tracts. In these systems, solutions are exposed to fluid flow, their complex rheology can affect the transport of chemical compounds microorganisms. Recent studies have focused on effect motility bacteria absence flow. However, flow be a game-changer bacterial transport, demonstrated depletion motile from low-shear regions trapping high-shear simple fluids, even for flows Poiseuille one. Despite relevance many habitats, shear-induced has remained unexplored. Using microfluidic experiments numerical modeling, we studied how shear rate rheological behavior Newtonian non-Newtonian motile, wild-type Pseudomonas aeruginosa Our results show that, an increase viscosity reduces at microchannel center, due reduction swimming velocity. Conversely, solution, observed comparable buffer case, despite its zero-shear being two orders magnitude higher. both cases, control shear-rate dependence. observations underscore importance carrier controlling particular, close surfaces giving rise velocity gradients, with potential consequences surface colonization biofilm formation naturally relevant microbial habitats.