Session: PMSE/POLY Poster Session:

Collective behavior is seen in a variety of biological organizations, varying from the collective attack of viruses on bacterial cells to fish swimming in schools. This may lead to the synchronized oscillations that includes either fire flies or cells being able to synchronize their time clocks. This can be observed with humans, where individual cells synchronize into circadian rhythms. Previously, we were able to establish the properties that indicate the presence of a clock in Neurospora crassa.In order to understand how cells synchronize, we hypothesize that N.crassa cells are able to communicate through the mechanism of quorum sensing.When the density of cells reach a certain threshold, the single N. crassa cells will then be able to secrete a signaling molecule to produce a coordinated response. In this study, we fabricated a microfluidic device to obtain single cell mesurements. The results supported a deterministic quorum sensing model idenfitied by ensemble methods for clock synchronization.

Bright field image of cells in microwell microfluidic device.

Bright field image of cells in microwell microfluidic device.

Leidong Mao

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