TY - GEN A1 - Weber, Ariane A1 - Bahrs, Marco A1 - Alirezaeizanjani, Zahra A1 - Zhang, Xingyu A1 - Beta, Carsten A1 - Zaburdaev, Vasily T1 - Rectification of Bacterial Diffusion in Microfluidic Labyrinths T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - In nature as well as in the context of infection and medical applications, bacteria often have to move in highly complex environments such as soil or tissues. Previous studies have shown that bacteria strongly interact with their surroundings and are often guided by confinements. Here, we investigate theoretically how the dispersal of swimming bacteria can be augmented by microfluidic environments and validate our theoretical predictions experimentally. We consider a system of bacteria performing the prototypical run-and-tumble motion inside a labyrinth with square lattice geometry. Narrow channels between the square obstacles limit the possibility of bacteria to reorient during tumbling events to an area where channels cross. Thus, by varying the geometry of the lattice it might be possible to control the dispersal of cells. We present a theoretical model quantifying diffusive spreading of a run-and-tumble random walker in a square lattice. Numerical simulations validate our theoretical predictions for the dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the lattice geometry. We show that bacteria moving in square labyrinths exhibit enhanced dispersal as compared to unconfined cells. Importantly, confinement significantly extends the duration of the phase with strongly non-Gaussian diffusion, when the geometry of channels is imprinted in the density profiles of spreading cells. Finally, in good agreement with our theoretical findings, we observe the predicted behaviors in experiments with E. coli bacteria swimming in a square lattice labyrinth created in amicrofluidic device. Altogether, our comprehensive understanding of bacterial dispersal in a simple two-dimensional labyrinth makes the first step toward the analysis of more complex geometries relevant for real world applications. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 801 KW - diffusion KW - rectification KW - random walk KW - bacteria KW - confinement Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-441222 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 801 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Weber, Ariane A1 - Bahrs, Marco A1 - Alirezaeizanjani, Zahra A1 - Zhang, Xingyu A1 - Beta, Carsten A1 - Zaburdaev, Vasily T1 - Rectification of Bacterial Diffusion in Microfluidic Labyrinths JF - Frontiers in Physics N2 - In nature as well as in the context of infection and medical applications, bacteria often have to move in highly complex environments such as soil or tissues. Previous studies have shown that bacteria strongly interact with their surroundings and are often guided by confinements. Here, we investigate theoretically how the dispersal of swimming bacteria can be augmented by microfluidic environments and validate our theoretical predictions experimentally. We consider a system of bacteria performing the prototypical run-and-tumble motion inside a labyrinth with square lattice geometry. Narrow channels between the square obstacles limit the possibility of bacteria to reorient during tumbling events to an area where channels cross. Thus, by varying the geometry of the lattice it might be possible to control the dispersal of cells. We present a theoretical model quantifying diffusive spreading of a run-and-tumble random walker in a square lattice. Numerical simulations validate our theoretical predictions for the dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the lattice geometry. We show that bacteria moving in square labyrinths exhibit enhanced dispersal as compared to unconfined cells. Importantly, confinement significantly extends the duration of the phase with strongly non-Gaussian diffusion, when the geometry of channels is imprinted in the density profiles of spreading cells. Finally, in good agreement with our theoretical findings, we observe the predicted behaviors in experiments with E. coli bacteria swimming in a square lattice labyrinth created in amicrofluidic device. Altogether, our comprehensive understanding of bacterial dispersal in a simple two-dimensional labyrinth makes the first step toward the analysis of more complex geometries relevant for real world applications. KW - diffusion KW - rectification KW - random walk KW - bacteria KW - confinement Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2019.00148 SN - 2296-424X SN - 0429-7725 VL - 7 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - THES A1 - Stephan, Mareike Sophia T1 - A bacterial mimetic system to study bacterial inactivation and infection N2 - The emerging threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a global challenge in the last decades, leading to a rising demand for alternative treatments for bacterial infections. One approach is to target the bacterial cell envelope, making understanding its biophysical properties crucial. Specifically, bacteriophages use the bacterial envelope as an entry point to initiate infection, and they are considered important building blocks of new antibiotic strategies against drug-resistant bacteria.. Depending on the structure of the cell wall, bacteria are classified as Gram-negative and Gram-positive. Gram-negative bacteria are equipped with a complex cell envelope composed of two lipid membranes enclosing a rigid peptidoglycan layer. The synthesis machinery of the Gram-negative cell envelope is the target of antimicrobial agents, including new physical sanitizing procedures addressing the outer membrane (OM). It is therefore very important to study the biophysical properties of the Gram-negative bacterial cell envelope. The high complexity of the Gram-negative OM sets the demand for a model system in which the contribution of individual components can be evaluated separately. In this respect, giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) are promising membrane systems to study membrane properties while controlling parameters such as membrane composition and surrounding medium conditions. The aim of this work was to develop methods and approaches for the preparation and characterization of a GUV-based membrane model that mimics the OM of the Gram-negative cell envelope. A major component of the OM is the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the outside of the OM heterobilayer. The vesicle model was designed to contain LPS in the outer leaflet and lipids in the inner leaflet. Furthermore, the interaction of the prepared LPS-GUVs with bacteriophages was tested. LPS containing GUVs were prepared by adapting the inverted emulsion technique to meet the challenging properties of LPS, namely their high self-aggregation rate in aqueous solutions. Notably, an additional emulsification step together with the adaption of solution conditions was employed to asymmetrically incorporate LPS containing long polysaccharide chains into the artificial membranes. GUV membrane asymmetry was verified with a fluorescence quenching assay. Since the necessary precautions for handling the quenching agent sodium dithionite are often underestimated and poorly described, important parameters were tested and identified to obtain a stable and reproducible assay. In the context of varied LPS incorporation, a microscopy-based technique was introduced to determine the LPS content on individual GUVs and to directly compare vesicle properties and LPS coverage. Diffusion coefficient measurements in the obtained GUVs showed that increasing LPS concentrations in the membranes resulted in decreased diffusivity. Employing LPS-GUVs we could demonstrate that a Salmonella bacteriophage bound with high specificity to its LPS receptor when presented at the GUV surface, and that the number of bound bacteriophages scaled with the amount of presented LPS receptor. In addition to binding, the bacteriophages were able to eject their DNA into the vesicle lumen. LPS-GUVs thus provide a starting platform for bottom-up approaches for the generation of more complex membranes, in which the effects of individual components on the membrane properties and the interaction with antimicrobial agents such as bacteriophages could be explored. N2 - Die wachsende Bedrohung durch antibiotikaresistente Bakterien ist in den letzten Jahrzehnten zu einer globalen Herausforderung geworden, was zu einer steigenden Nachfrage nach alternativen Behandlungsmethoden für bakterielle Infektionen geführt hat. Ein Ansatz besteht darin, die bakterielle Zellhülle anzugreifen, weshalb das Verständnis ihrer biophysikalischen Eigenschaften entscheidend ist. Insbesondere Bakteriophagen, Viren, die Bakterien infizieren, nutzen die Bakterienhülle als ersten Angriffspunkt für die Infektion und gelten als wichtige Bausteine für neue Antibiotikastrategien gegen arzneimittelresistente Bakterien. Je nach Struktur der Zellwand werden Bakterien in gramnegative und grampositive Bakterien eingeteilt. Gramnegative Bakterien sind mit einer komplexen Zellhülle ausgestattet. Daher ist es sehr wichtig, ihre biophysikalischen Eigenschaften zu untersuchen. Die hohe Komplexität der äußeren Zellhülle, auch äußere Membran genannt, erfordert ein Modellsystem, in dem der Beitrag jeder einzelnen Komponente separat bewertet werden kann. In dieser Hinsicht sind Vesikel-basierte Modellsysteme sehr vielversprechend, da sie wichtige Eigenschaften der äußeren Membran simulieren können, aber in ihrer Komplexität stark reduziert und kontrollierbar sind. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, Methoden und Ansätze für die Herstellung und Charakterisierung eines Vesikel-basierten Modells zu entwickeln, das die äußere Membran der gramnegativen bakteriellen Zellhülle nachahmt. Ein Hauptbestandteil der äußeren Membran ist Lipopolysaccharid (LPS), das asymmetrisch auf der Außenseite der äußeren Membran vorhanden ist. Das Vesikelmodell wurde so konzipiert, dass es außen LPS und innen Phospholipide enthält. Die Herstellung des beschriebenen Modellsystems erforderte einige Anpassungen, da die Hüllkomponente LPS eine hohe Tendenz zur Bildung von Selbstaggregaten aufweist. Durch die Einführung eines zusätzlichen Schrittes in das Standardprotokoll konnten Vesikel mit LPS-Inkorporation erzeugt werden. Es wurde sowohl die Menge als auch die asymmetrische Verteilung des LPS-Einbaus bestimmt. Mit Hilfe von Bakteriophagen sollte die biologische Wirkung des Modellsystems getestet werden. Es wurde gezeigt, dass Bakteriophagen, die spezifisch LPS erkennen und binden, nach Zugabe zum Modellsystem die Vesikel binden und ihr genetisches Material in das Vesikel-Innere injizieren. Die hier beschriebenen LPS-haltigen Vesikel können als Ausgangsplattform für Bottom-up-Ansätze zur Herstellung komplexerer Membranen verwendet werden. Mit diesen komplexeren, aber kontrollierbaren Systemen lassen sich die Auswirkungen einzelner Komponenten der bakteriellen Zellhülle auf die Eigenschaften der Zellhülle sowie ihre Wechselwirkung mit antimikrobiellen Wirkstoffen wie Bakteriophagen untersuchen. KW - Bakterien KW - Bakteriophagen KW - Zellmembran KW - Vesikel KW - Konfokale Mikroskopie KW - Lipopolysaccharid KW - gramnegativ KW - bacteria KW - bacteriophage KW - cell membrane KW - vesicle KW - confocal microscopy KW - lipopolysaccharide KW - gram-negative Y1 - 2023 ER - TY - THES A1 - Numberger, Daniela T1 - Urban wastewater and lakes as habitats for bacteria and potential vectors for pathogens T1 - Urbane Abwässer und Seen als Habitat für Bakterien und potentielle Vektoren für Krankheitserreger N2 - Wasser ist lebensnotwendig und somit eine essentielle Ressource. Jedoch sind unsere Süßwasser-Ressourcen begrenzt und ihre Erhaltung daher besonders wichtig. Verschmutzungen mit Chemikalien und Krankheitserregern, die mit einer wachsenden Bevölkerung und Urbanisierung einhergehen, verschlechtern die Qualität unseres Süßwassers. Außerdem kann Wasser als Übertragungsvektor für Krankheitserreger dienen und daher wasserbürtige Krankheiten verursachen. Der Leibniz-Forschungsverbund INFECTIONS‘21 untersuchte innerhalb der interdisziplinären Forschungsgruppe III - „Wasser", Gewässer als zentralen Mittelpunkt für Krankheiterreger. Dabei konzentrierte man sich auf Clostridioides difficile sowie aviäre Influenza A-Viren, von denen angenommen wird, dass sie in die Gewässer ausgeschieden werden. Ein weiteres Ziel bestand darin, die bakterielle Gemeinschaften eines Klärwerkes der deutschen Hauptstadt Berlin zu charakterisieren, um anschließend eine Bewertung des potentiellen Gesundheitsrisikos geben zu können. Bakterielle Gemeinschaften des Roh- und Klarwassers aus dem Klärwerk unterschieden sich signifikant voneinander. Der Anteil an Darm-/Fäkalbakterien war relativ niedrig und potentielle Darmpathogene wurden größtenteils aus dem Rohwasser entfernt. Ein potentielles Gesundheitsrisiko konnte allerdings von potentiell pathogenen Legionellen wie L. lytica festgestellt werden, deren relative Abundanz im Klarwasser höher war als im Rohwasser. Es wurden außerdem drei C. difficile-Isolate aus den Klärwerk-Rohwasser und einem städtischen Badesee in Berlin (Weisser See) gewonnen und sequenziert. Die beiden Isolate aus dem Klärwerk tragen keine Toxin-Gene, wohingegen das Isolat aus dem See Toxin-Gene besitzt. Alle drei Isolate sind sehr nah mit humanen Stämmen verwandt. Dies deutet auf ein potentielles, wenn auch sporadisches Gesundheitsrisiko hin. (Aviäre) Influenza A-Viren wurden in 38.8% der untersuchten Sedimentproben mittels PCR detektiert, aber die Virusisolierung schlug fehl. Ein Experiment mit beimpften Wasser- und Sedimentproben zeigte, dass für die Isolierung aus Sedimentproben eine relativ hohe Viruskonzentration nötig ist. In Wasserproben ist jedoch ein niedriger Titer an Influenza A-Viren ausreichend, um eine Infektion auszulösen. Es konnte zudem auch festgestellt werden, dass sich „Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK)―-Zellkulturen im Gegensatz zu embryonierten Hühnereiern besser eignen, um Influenza A-Viren aus Sediment zu isolieren. Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass diese Arbeit mögliche Gesundheitsrisiken aufgedeckt hat, wie etwa durch Legionellen im untersuchten Berliner Klärwerk, deren relative Abundanz in geklärtem Abwasser höher ist als im Rohwasser. Desweiteren wird indiziert, dass Abwasser und Gewässer als Reservoir und Vektor für pathogene Organismen dienen können, selbst für nicht-typische Wasser-Pathogene wie C. difficile. N2 - Water is essential to life and thus, an essential resource. However, freshwater resources are limited and their maintenance is crucial. Pollution with chemicals and pathogens through urbanization and a growing population impair the quality of freshwater. Furthermore, water can serve as vector for the transmission of pathogens resulting in water-borne illness. The Interdisciplinary Research Group III – "Water" of the Leibniz alliance project INFECTIONS‘21 investigated water as a hub for pathogens focusing on Clostridioides difficile and avian influenza A viruses that may be shed into the water. Another aim of this study was to characterize the bacterial communities in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the capital Berlin, Germany to further assess potential health risks associated with wastewater management practices. Bacterial communities of WWTP inflow and effluent differed significantly. The proportion of fecal/enteric bacteria was relatively low and OTUs related to potential enteric pathogens were largely removed from inflow to effluent. However, a health risk might exist as an increased relative abundance of potential pathogenic Legionella spp. such as L. lytica was observed. Three Clostridioides difficile isolates from wastewater inflow and an urban bathing lake in Berlin (‗Weisser See‘) were obtained and sequenced. The two isolates from the wastewater did not carry toxin genes, whereas the isolate from the lake was positive for the toxin genes. All three isolates were closely related to human strains. This indicates a potential, but rather sporadic health risk. Avian influenza A viruses were detected in 38.8% of sediment samples by PCR, but virus isolation failed. An experiment with inoculated freshwater and sediment samples showed that virus isolation from sediment requires relatively high virus concentrations and worked much better in Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell cultures than in embryonated chicken eggs, but low titre of influenza contamination in freshwater samples was sufficient to recover virus. In conclusion, this work revealed potential health risks coming from bacterial groups with pathogenic potential such as Legionella spp. whose relative abundance is higher in the released effluent than in the inflow of the investigated WWTP. It further indicates that water bodies such as wastewater and lake sediments can serve as reservoir and vector, even for non-typical water-borne or water-transmitted pathogens such as C. difficile. KW - water KW - Wasser KW - bacteria KW - Bakterien KW - influenza A viruses KW - Influenza A Viren KW - pathogens KW - Krankheitserreger Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-437095 ER - TY - THES A1 - Mogrovejo Arias, Diana Carolina T1 - Assessment of the frequency and relevance of potentially pathogenic phenotypes in microbial isolates from Arctic environments N2 - The Arctic environments constitute rich and dynamic ecosystems, dominated by microorganisms extremely well adapted to survive and function under severe conditions. A range of physiological adaptations allow the microbiota in these habitats to withstand low temperatures, low water and nutrient availability, high levels of UV radiation, etc. In addition, other adaptations of clear competitive nature are directed at not only surviving but thriving in these environments, by disrupting the metabolism of neighboring cells and affecting intermicrobial communication. Since Arctic microbes are bioindicators which amplify climate alterations in the environment, the Arctic region presents the opportunity to study local microbiota and carry out research about interesting, potentially virulent phenotypes that could be dispersed into other habitats around the globe as a consequence of accelerating climate change. In this context, exploration of Arctic habitats as well as descriptions of the microbes inhabiting them are abundant but microbial competitive strategies commonly associated with virulence and pathogens are rarely reported. In this project, environmental samples from the Arctic region were collected and microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) were isolated. The clinical relevance of these microorganisms was assessed by observing the following virulence markers: ability to grow at a range of temperatures, expression of antimicrobial resistance and production of hemolysins. The aim of this project is to determine the frequency and relevance of these characteristics in an effort to understand microbial adaptations in habitats threatened by climate change. The isolates obtained and described here were able to grow at a range of temperatures, in some cases more than 30 °C higher than their original isolation temperature. A considerable number of them consistently expressed compounds capable of lysing sheep and bovine erythrocytes on blood agar at different incubation temperatures. Ethanolic extracts of these bacteria were able to cause rapid and complete lysis of erythrocyte suspensions and might even be hemolytic when assayed on human blood. In silico analyses showed a variety of resistance elements, some of them novel, against natural and synthetic antimicrobial compounds. In vitro experiments against a number of antimicrobial compounds showed resistance phenotypes belonging to wild-type populations and some non-wild type which clearly denote human influence in the acquisition of antimicrobial resistance. The results of this project demonstrate the presence of virulence-associated factors expressed by microorganisms of natural, non-clinical environments. This study contains some of the first reports, to the best of our knowledge, of hemolytic microbes isolated from the Arctic region. In addition, it provides additional information about the presence and expression of intrinsic and acquired antimicrobial resistance in environmental isolates, contributing to the understanding of the evolution of relevant pathogenic species and opportunistic pathogens. Finally, this study highlights some of the potential risks associated with changes in the polar regions (habitat melting and destruction, ecosystem transition and re-colonization) as important indirect consequences of global warming and altered climatic conditions around the planet. N2 - Die Arktis ist ein reiches und dynamisches Ökosystem, welches von Mikroorganismen dominiert wird, die unter extremen Bedingungen überleben und funktionieren können. Eine Reihe physiologischer Anpassungen ermöglichen es der Mikrobiota, in diesem Lebensraum zu überdauern niedrige Temperaturen, geringe Wasser- und Nährstoffverfügbarkeit, hohe UV-Strahlung, usw. standzuhalten. Andere Fähigkeiten zielen darauf ab, sich einen Konkurrenzvorteil zu verschaffen, indem sie mit antimikrobiellen Substanzen benachbarte Mikroorganismen stören und die intermikrobielle Kommunikation beeinflussen. Arktische Mikroorganismen sind Bioindikatoren, die Klimaveränderungen anzeigen können. Die Arktis bietet Möglichkeiten, die lokale Mikrobiota zu untersuchen, um Rückschlüsse auf den Klimawandel zu ziehen. Insbesondere Forschung über potenziell pathogene Phänotypen, die infolge der Beschleunigung des Klimawandels in andere Lebensräume auf der ganzen Welt verteilt werden könnten, ist hier von herausragender Bedeutung. In diesem Zusammenhang gibt es zahlreiche Untersuchungen zur Erforschung arktischer Lebensräume sowie Beschreibungen der in ihnen lebenden Mikroben, während über bakterielle Konkurrenzstrategien, die üblicherweise mit Virulenz und Krankheitserregern verbunden sind, bisher wenig geforscht wurde. In diesem Projekt wurden Umweltproben aus der Arktis entnommen und Bakterien und Pilze isoliert. Die klinische Relevanz dieser Mikroorganismen wurde durch Untersuchung der folgenden Virulenzmarker bewertet: Fähigkeit, in einem bestimmten Temperaturbereich zu wachsen, Expression von Antibiotikaresistenz und Produktion von Hämolysinen. Ziel dieses Projekts war es, das Vorkommen dieser Eigenschaften zu bestimmen, um die mikrobiellen Anpassungen in vom Klimawandel bedrohten Lebensräumen zu verstehen. Die beschriebenen Bakterienisolate konnten in einem relevanten Temperaturbereich wachsen, in einigen Fällen von mehr als 30 °C höher als ihre ursprüngliche Isolationstemperatur. Eine beträchtliche Anzahl der Isolate exprimierte konsistent Verbindungen, die Schaf- und Rindererythrozyten auf Blutagar bei verschiedenen Inkubationstemperaturen lysieren können. Die Extrakte einiger dieser Bakterien konnten eine schnelle und vollständige Lyse von Schaf- und Rindererythrozytensuspensionen verursachen und sind möglicherweise sogar hämolytisch gegenüber humanem Blut. Darüber hinaus zeigten Genomanalysen eine Vielzahl von Resistenzgenen gegen natürliche und synthetische antimikrobielle Verbindungen, einige neuartige. In-vitro-Experimente zeigten, dass einige Resistenzphänotypen zu Wildtyp-Populationen während andere zu Nicht-Wildtyp gehören, was auf einen menschlichen Einfluss auf den Erwerb von Antibiotikaresistenzen in der Umwelt eindeutig hindeutet. Die Ergebnisse dieses Projekts zeigen das Vorhandensein von Virulenz-assoziierten Faktoren, die von Mikroorganismen natürlicher, nicht klinischer Umgebungen exprimiert werden. Diese Studie enthält nach unserem besten Wissen einige der ersten Berichte über hämolytische Mikroben, die aus der Arktis isoliert wurden. Darüber hinaus liefert es zusätzliche Informationen über das Vorhandensein und die Expression von intrinsischer und erworbener antimikrobieller Resistenz in Umweltisolaten und trägt zum Verständnis der Entwicklung relevanter pathogener Spezies und opportunistischer Pathogene bei. Schließlich beleuchtet diese Studie einige der potenziellen Risiken, die mit Veränderungen in den Polarregionen (Schmelzen und Zerstörung des Lebensraums, Übergang des Ökosystems und Wiederbesiedlung) als wichtige indirekte Folgen der globalen Erwärmung und veränderter klimatischer Bedingungen auf dem Planeten verbunden sind. KW - Arctic KW - pathogens KW - virulence KW - hemolysis KW - antimicrobial resistance KW - climate change KW - bacteria KW - fungi KW - thermotolerance KW - antibiotic resistance KW - Arktis KW - Krankheitserreger KW - Virulenz KW - Hämolyse KW - Antibiotikaresistenz KW - Klimawandel KW - Bakterien KW - Pilze KW - Thermotoleranz Y1 - 2021 N1 - The author would like to acknowledge that the project leading to this doctoral dissertation has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 675546, research project “Microorganisms in Warming Arctic Environments - MicroArctic”. ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mitzscherling, Julia A1 - MacLean, Joana A1 - Lipus, Daniel A1 - Bartholomäus, Alexander A1 - Mangelsdorf, Kai A1 - Lipski, André A1 - Roddatis, Vladimir A1 - Liebner, Susanne A1 - Wagner, Dirk T1 - Nocardioides alcanivorans sp. nov., a novel hexadecane-degrading species isolated from plastic waste JF - International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology N2 - Strain NGK65(T), a novel hexadecane degrading, non-motile, Gram-positive, rod-to-coccus shaped, aerobic bacterium, was isolated from plastic polluted soil sampled at a landfill. Strain NGK65(T) hydrolysed casein, gelatin, urea and was catalase-positive. It optimally grew at 28 degrees C. in 0-1% NaCl and at pH 7.5-8.0. Glycerol, D-glucose, arbutin, aesculin, salicin, potassium 5-ketogluconate. sucrose, acetate, pyruvate and hexadecane were used as sole carbon sources. The predominant membrane fatty acids were iso-C-16:0 followed by iso-C(17:)0 and C-18:1 omega 9c. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol and hydroxyphosphatidylinositol. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type was A3 gamma, with LL-diaminopimelic acid and glycine as the diagnostic amino acids. MK 8 (H-4) was the predominant menaquinone. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain NGK65(T) belongs to the genus Nocardioides (phylum Actinobacteria). appearing most closely related to Nocardioides daejeonensis MJ31(T) (98.6%) and Nocardioides dubius KSL-104(T) (98.3%). The genomic DNA G+C content of strain NGK65(T) was 68.2%. Strain NGK65(T) and the type strains of species involved in the analysis had average nucleotide identity values of 78.3-71.9% as well as digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between 22.5 and 19.7%, which clearly indicated that the isolate represents a novel species within the genus Nocardioides. Based on phenotypic and molecular characterization, strain NGK65(T) can clearly be differentiated from its phylogenetic neighbours to establish a novel species, for which the name Nocardioides alcanivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NGK65(T) (=DSM 113112(T)=NCCB 100846(T)). KW - Nocardioides alcanivorans KW - hexadecane KW - plastic degradation KW - terrestrial KW - plastisphere KW - bacteria Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.005319 SN - 1466-5026 SN - 1466-5034 VL - 72 IS - 4 PB - Microbiology Society CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kamjunke, Norbert A1 - Beckers, Liza-Marie A1 - Herzsprung, Peter A1 - von Tümpling, Wolf A1 - Lechtenfeld, Oliver A1 - Tittel, Jörg A1 - Risse-Buhl, Ute A1 - Rode, Michael A1 - Wachholz, Alexander A1 - Kallies, Rene A1 - Schulze, Tobias A1 - Krauss, Martin A1 - Brack, Werner A1 - Comero, Sara A1 - Gawlik, Bernd Manfred A1 - Skejo, Hello A1 - Tavazzi, Simona A1 - Mariani, Giulio A1 - Borchardt, Dietrich A1 - Weitere, Markus T1 - Lagrangian profiles of riverine autotrophy, organic matter transformation, and micropollutants at extreme drought JF - The science of the total environment : an international journal for scientific research into the environment and its relationship with man N2 - On their way from inland to the ocean, flowing water bodies, their constituents and their biotic communities are ex-posed to complex transport and transformation processes. However, detailed process knowledge as revealed by La-grangian measurements adjusted to travel time is rare in large rivers, in particular at hydrological extremes. To fill this gap, we investigated autotrophic processes, heterotrophic carbon utilization, and micropollutant concentrations applying a Lagrangian sampling design in a 600 km section of the River Elbe (Germany) at historically low discharge. Under base flow conditions, we expect the maximum intensity of instream processes and of point source impacts. Phy-toplankton biomass and photosynthesis increased from upstream to downstream sites but maximum chlorophyll con-centration was lower than at mean discharge. Concentrations of dissolved macronutrients decreased to almost complete phosphate depletion and low nitrate values. The longitudinal increase of bacterial abundance and production was less pronounced than in wetter years and bacterial community composition changed downstream. Molecular analyses revealed a longitudinal increase of many DOM components due to microbial production, whereas saturated lipid-like DOM, unsaturated aromatics and polyphenols, and some CHOS surfactants declined. In decomposition exper-iments, DOM components with high O/C ratios and high masses decreased whereas those with low O/C ratios, low masses, and high nitrogen content increased at all sites. Radiocarbon age analyses showed that DOC was relatively old (890-1870 years B.P.), whereas the mineralized fraction was much younger suggesting predominant oxidation of algal lysis products and exudates particularly at downstream sites. Micropollutants determining toxicity for algae (terbuthylazine, terbutryn, isoproturon and lenacil), hexachlorocyclohexanes and DDTs showed higher concentrations from the middle towards the downstream part but calculated toxicity was not negatively correlated to phytoplankton. Overall, autotrophic and heterotrophic process rates and micropollutant concentrations increased from up-to down-stream reaches, but their magnitudes were not distinctly different to conditions at medium discharges. KW - Phytoplankton KW - Nutrients KW - Dissolved organic matter (DOM) KW - bacteria KW - Respiration KW - Micropollutants Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154243 SN - 0048-9697 SN - 1879-1026 VL - 828 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hoke, Alexa A1 - Woodhouse, Jason Nicholas A1 - Zoccarato, Luca A1 - McCarthy, Valerie A1 - de Eyto, Elvira A1 - Caldero-Pascual, Maria A1 - Geffroy, Ewan A1 - Dillane, Mary A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Jennings, Eleanor T1 - Impacts of extreme weather events on bacterial community composition of a temperate humic lake JF - Water N2 - Extreme weather events are projected to increase in frequency and intensity as climate change continues. Heterotrophic bacteria play a critical role in lake ecosystems, yet little research has been done to determine how they are affected by such extremes. The purpose of this study was to use high-throughput sequencing to explore the bacterial community composition of a humic oligotrophic lake on the North Atlantic Irish coast and to assess the impacts on composition dynamics related to extreme weather events. Samples for sequencing were collected from Lough Feeagh on a fortnightly basis from April to November 2018. Filtration was used to separate free-living and particle-associated bacterial communities and amplicon sequencing was performed for the 16S rRNA V4 region. Two named storms, six high discharge events, and one drought period occurred during the sampling period. These events had variable, context-dependent effects on bacterial communities in Lough Feeagh. The particle-associated community was found to be more likely to respond to physical changes, such as mixing, while the free-living population responded to changes in nutrient and carbon concentrations. Generally, however, the high stability of the bacterial community observed in Lough Feeagh suggests that the bacterial community is relatively resilient to extreme weather events. KW - extreme weather event KW - storm KW - drought KW - bacteria KW - free-living KW - particle-associated KW - humic lake Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/w12102757 SN - 2073-4441 VL - 12 IS - 10 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER - TY - THES A1 - Hintsche, Marius T1 - Locomotion of a bacterium with a polar bundle of flagella T1 - Fortbewegung eines Bakteriums mit einem polaren Flagellenbündel BT - insights into movement and navigation by fluorescence high speed microscopy BT - Erkentnisse über Bewegung und Navigation mittels Hochgeschwindigkeitsfluoreszenzmikroskopie N2 - Movement and navigation are essential for many organisms during some parts of their lives. This is also true for bacteria, which can move along surfaces and swim though liquid environments. They are able to sense their environment, and move towards environmental cues in a directed fashion. These abilities enable microbial lifecyles in biofilms, improved food uptake, host infection, and many more. In this thesis we study aspects of the swimming movement - or motility - of the soil bacterium (P. putida). Like most bacteria, P. putida swims by rotating its helical flagella, but their arrangement differs from the main model organism in bacterial motility research: (E. coli). P. putida is known for its intriguing motility strategy, where fast and slow episodes can occur after each other. Up until now, it was not known how these two speeds can be produced, and what advantages they might confer to this bacterium. Normally the flagella, the main component of thrust generation in bacteria, are not observable by ordinary light microscopy. In order to elucidate this behavior, we therefore used a fluorescent staining technique on a mutant strain of this species to specifically label the flagella, while leaving the cell body only faintly stained. This allowed us to image the flagella of the swimming bacteria with high spacial and temporal resolution with a customized high speed fluorescence microscopy setup. Our observations show that P. putida can swim in three different modes. First, It can swim with the flagella pushing the cell body, which is the main mode of swimming motility previously known from other bacteria. Second, it can swim with the flagella pulling the cell body, which was thought not to be possible in situations with multiple flagella. Lastly, it can wrap its flagellar bundle around the cell body, which results in a speed wich is slower by a factor of two. In this mode, the flagella are in a different physical conformation with a larger radius so the cell body can fit inside. These three swimming modes explain the previous observation of two speeds, as well as the non strict alternation of the different speeds. Because most bacterial swimming in nature does not occur in smoothly walled glass enclosures under a microscope, we used an artificial, microfluidic, structured system of obstacles to study the motion of our model organism in a structured environment. Bacteria were observed in microchannels with cylindrical obstacles of different sizes and with different distances with video microscopy and cell tracking. We analyzed turning angles, run times, and run length, which we compared to a minimal model for movement in structured geometries. Our findings show that hydrodynamic interactions with the walls lead to a guiding of the bacteria along obstacles. When comparing the observed behavior with the statics of a particle that is deflected with every obstacle contact, we find that cells run for longer distances than that model. Navigation in chemical gradients is one of the main applications of motility in bacteria. We studied the swimming response of P. putida cells to chemical stimuli (chemotaxis) of the common food preservative sodium benzoate. Using a microfluidic gradient generation device, we created gradients of varying strength, and observed the motion of cells with a video microscope and subsequent cell tracking. Analysis of different motility parameters like run lengths and times, shows that P. putida employs the classical chemotaxis strategy of E. coli: runs up the gradient are biased to be longer than those down the gradient. Using the two different run speeds we observed due to the different swimming modes, we classify runs into `fast' and `slow' modes with a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). We find no evidence that P. putida's uses its swimming modes to perform chemotaxis. In most studies of bacterial motility, cell tracking is used to gather trajectories of individual swimming cells. These trajectories then have to be decomposed into run sections and tumble sections. Several algorithms have been developed to this end, but most require manual tuning of a number of parameters, or extensive measurements with chemotaxis mutant strains. Together with our collaborators, we developed a novel motility analysis scheme, based on generalized Kramers-Moyal-coefficients. From the underlying stochastic model, many parameters like run length etc., can be inferred by an optimization procedure without the need for explicit run and tumble classification. The method can, however, be extended to a fully fledged tumble classifier. Using this method, we analyze E. coli chemotaxis measurements in an aspartate analog, and find evidence for a chemotactic bias in the tumble angles. N2 - Bewegung und Navigation sind für viele Organismen in einigen Bereichen ihres Lebens unerlässlich. Dies gilt auch für Bakterien, die sich entlang von Oberflächen bewegen und durch Flüssigkeiten schwimmen können. Sie sind in der Lage, ihre Umgebung wahr zu nehmen und sich gezielt auf Signale in der Umwelt zuzubewegen. Diese Fähigkeiten ermöglichen mikrobielle Lebenszyklen in Biofilmen, verbesserte Nahrungsaufnahme, Wirtsinfektion und vieles mehr. In dieser Arbeit untersuchen wir Aspekte der Schwimmbewegung - oder Motilität - des Bodenbakteriums Pseudomonas putida (P. putida). Wie die meisten Bakterien schwimmt P. putida durch Rotation seiner schraubenförmigen Flagellen, aber ihre Anordnung unterscheidet sich vom Hauptmodellorganismus in der bakteriellen Motilitätsforschung: Escherichia coli (E. coli). P. putida ist bekannt für seine faszinierende Motilitätsstrategie, bei der schnelle und langsame Episoden hintereinander auftreten können. Bislang war nicht bekannt, wie diese beiden Geschwindigkeiten erzeugt werden können und welche Vorteile sie diesem Bakterium bringen können. Normalerweise sind die Flagellen, die Hauptkomponente der Schuberzeugung bei Bakterien, mit herkömmlicher Lichtmikroskopie nicht zu beobachten. Um dieses Verhalten zu verdeutlichen, haben wir daher eine Fluoreszenzfärbetechnik an einem Mutantenstamm dieser Spezies eingesetzt, um die Flagellen spezifisch zu markieren und gleichzeitig den Zellkörper nur schwach gefärbt zu lassen. Dies ermöglichte es uns, die Geißeln der schwimmenden Bakterien mit hoher räumlicher und zeitlicher Auflösung mit einem maßgeschneiderten Hochgeschwindigkeits-Fluoreszenzmikroskopie-Setup darzustellen. Unsere Beobachtungen zeigen, dass P. putida in drei verschiedenen Modi schwimmen kann. Erstens kann es mit den Flagellen den Zellkörper vorwärts drücken, was der wichtigste Modus der Schwimmmotilität ist, der zuvor von anderen Bakterien bekannt war. Zweitens kann es mit den Flagellen den Zellkörper hinter sich her ziehen, was in Situationen mit mehreren Flagellen für nicht möglich gehalten wurde. Schließlich kann es sein Flagellenbündel um den Zellkörper wickeln, was zu einer um den Faktor zwei verlangsamten Geschwindigkeit führt. In diesem Modus befinden sich die Flagellen in einer anderen physikalischen Konformation mit einem größeren Radius, so dass der Zellkörper hineinpassen kann. Diese drei Schwimmmodi erklären die vorherige Beobachtung von zwei Geschwindigkeiten sowie das nicht strenge Abwechseln der verschiedenen Geschwindigkeiten. Da das Schwimmen von Bakterien in der Natur nicht in glattwandigen Glaskammern unter dem Mikroskop stattfindet, haben wir ein künstliches, mikrofluidisches, strukturiertes System von Hindernissen verwendet, um die Bewegung unseres Modellorganismus in einer strukturierten Umgebung zu untersuchen. Bakterien wurden in Mikrokanälen mit zylindrischen Hindernissen unterschiedlicher Größe und mit unterschiedlichen Abständen mit Videomikroskopie und Zelltracking beobachtet. Wir analysierten Turn-Winkel, Run-Zeiten und Run-Längen, die wir mit einem Minimalmodell für die Bewegung in strukturierten Geometrien verglichen haben. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass hydrodynamische Wechselwirkungen mit den Wänden zu einer Leitung der Bakterien entlang von Hindernissen führen. Vergleicht man das beobachtete Verhalten mit der Statik eines Partikels, das bei jedem Hinderniskontakt umgelenkt wird, so stellt man fest, dass Zellen über längere Strecken Laufen als in dieses Modell. Die Navigation in chemischen Gradienten ist eine der Hauptapplikation der Motilität bei Bakterien. Wir untersuchten die Schwimmreaktion von P. putida Zellen auf chemische Reize (Chemotaxis) des gängigen Lebensmittelkonservierungsmittels Natriumbenzoat. Mit einem mikrofluidischen Gradientengenerator erzeugten wir Gradienten unterschiedlicher Stärke und beobachteten die Bewegung der Zellen mit einem Videomikroskop und anschließendem Zelltracking. Die Analyse verschiedener Motilitätsparameter wie Lauflängen und -zeiten zeigt, dass P. putida die klassische Chemotaxiestrategie von E. coli anwendet: Läufe gradientenaufwärts sind im Mittel länger sein als solche gradientenabwärts. Mit den beiden verschiedenen Laufgeschwindigkeiten, die wir aufgrund der unterschiedlichen Schwimmmodi beobachtet haben, klassifizieren wir Läufe in schnelle und langsame Modi mit einem "Gaussian Mixture Model" (GMM). Wir finden keinen Beweis dafür, dass P. putida seine Schwimmmodi nutzt, um Chemotaxis durchzuführen. In den meisten Studien zur bakteriellen Motilität wird das Zelltracking verwendet, um die Trajektorien einzelner schwimmender Zellen zu erfassen. Diese Trajektorien müssen dann in Lauf- und Wendeabschnitte (Runs und Turns) zerlegt werden. Mehrere Algorithmen wurden zu diesem Zweck entwickelt, aber die meisten erfordern eine manuelle Abstimmung einer Reihe von Parametern oder umfangreiche Messungen mit chemotaktischen Mutantenstämmen. Zusammen mit unseren Mitarbeitern haben wir ein neuartiges Motilitätsanalyseschema entwickelt, das auf verallgemeinerten Kramers-Moyal-Koeffizienten basiert. Aus dem zugrunde liegenden stochastischen Modell können viele Parameter wie Lauflänge etc. durch ein Optimierungsverfahren abgeleitet werden, ohne dass eine explizite Run und Turn Klassifizierung erforderlich ist. Das Verfahren kann jedoch zu einem vollwertigen Klassifizierer ausgebaut werden. Mit dieser Methode analysieren wir E. coli Chemotaxis Messungen in einem Gradienten eines Aspartat analogen Chemoattractors und finden Beweise für eine chemotaktische Variation der Tumble-Winkeln. KW - bacteria KW - motility KW - chemotaxis KW - Bakterien KW - Motilität KW - Chemotaxis Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426972 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Frindte, Katharina A1 - Allgaier, Martin A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Eckert, Werner T1 - Microbial response to experimentally controlled redox transitions at the sediment water interface T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - The sediment-water interface of freshwater lakes is characterized by sharp chemical gradients, shaped by the interplay between physical, chemical and microbial processes. As dissolved oxygen is depleted in the uppermost sediment, the availability of alternative electron acceptors, e.g. nitrate and sulfate, becomes the limiting factor. We performed a time series experiment in a mesocosm to simulate the transition from aerobic to anaerobic conditions at the sediment-water interface. Our goal was to identify changes in the microbial activity due to redox transitions induced by successive depletion of available electron acceptors. Monitoring critical hydrochemical parameters in the overlying water in conjunction with a new sampling strategy for sediment bacteria enabled us to correlate redox changes in the water to shifts in the active microbial community and the expression of functional genes representing specific redox-dependent microbial processes. Our results show that during several transitions from oxic-heterotrophic condition to sulfate-reducing condition, nitrate-availability and the on-set of sulfate reduction strongly affected the corresponding functional gene expression. There was evidence of anaerobic methane oxidation with NOx. DGGE analysis revealed redox-related changes in microbial activity and expression of functional genes involved in sulfate and nitrite reduction, whereas methanogenesis and methanotrophy showed only minor changes during redox transitions. The combination of high-frequency chemical measurements and molecular methods provide new insights into the temporal dynamics of the interplay between microbial activity and specific redox transitions at the sediment-water interface. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 509 KW - anaerobic methane oxidation KW - oligotrophic lake Stechlin KW - ribosomal RNA KW - vertical-distribution KW - coastal sediments KW - sulfate reduction KW - Shallow Lake KW - bacteria KW - carbon KW - communities Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-408464 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 509 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Fabian, Jenny A1 - Zlatanović, Sanja A1 - Mutz, Michael A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - Geldern, Robert van A1 - Ulrich, Andreas A1 - Gleixner, Gerd A1 - Premke, Katrin T1 - Environmental control on microbial turnover of leaf carbon in streams BT - ecological function of phototrophic-heterotrophic interactions T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - In aquatic ecosystems, light availability can significantly influence microbial turnover of terrestrial organic matter through associated metabolic interactions between phototrophic and heterotrophic communities. However, particularly in streams, microbial functions vary significantly with the structure of the streambed, that is the distribution and spatial arrangement of sediment grains in the streambed. It is therefore essential to elucidate how environmental factors synergistically define the microbial turnover of terrestrial organic matter in order to better understand the ecological role of photo-heterotrophic interactions in stream ecosystem processes. In outdoor experimental streams, we examined how the structure of streambeds modifies the influence of light availability on microbial turnover of leaf carbon (C). Furthermore, we investigated whether the studied relationships of microbial leaf C turnover to environmental conditions are affected by flow intermittency commonly occurring in streams. We applied leaves enriched with a 13C-stable isotope tracer and combined quantitative and isotope analyses. We thereby elucidated whether treatment induced changes in C turnover were associated with altered use of leaf C within the microbial food web. Moreover, isotope analyses were combined with measurements of microbial community composition to determine whether changes in community function were associated with a change in community composition. In this study, we present evidence, that environmental factors interactively determine how phototrophs and heterotrophs contribute to leaf C turnover. Light availability promoted the utilization of leaf C within the microbial food web, which was likely associated with a promoted availability of highly bioavailable metabolites of phototrophic origin. However, our results additionally confirm that the structure of the streambed modifies light-related changes in microbial C turnover. From our observations, we conclude that the streambed structure influences the strength of photo-heterotrophic interactions by defining the spatial availability of algal metabolites in the streambed and the composition of microbial communities. Collectively, our multifactorial approach provides valuable insights into environmental controls on the functioning of stream ecosystems. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 693 KW - algae KW - bacteria KW - microbial interactions KW - 13C stable isotopes KW - PLFA KW - terrestrial carbon KW - streambed structure KW - light Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426336 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 693 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fabian, Jenny A1 - Zlatanovic, Sanja A1 - Mutz, Michael A1 - Grossart, Hans-Peter A1 - van Geldern, Robert A1 - Ulrich, Andreas A1 - Gleixner, Gerd A1 - Premke, Katrin T1 - Environmental control on microbial turnover of leaf carbon in streams BT - Ecological function of phototrophic-heterotrophic interactions JF - Frontiers in microbiology N2 - In aquatic ecosystems, light availability can significantly influence microbial turnover of terrestrial organic matter through associated metabolic interactions between phototrophic and heterotrophic communities. However, particularly in streams, microbial functions vary significantly with the structure of the streambed, that is the distribution and spatial arrangement of sediment grains in the streambed. It is therefore essential to elucidate how environmental factors synergistically define the microbial turnover of terrestrial organic matter in order to better understand the ecological role of photoheterotrophic interactions in stream ecosystem processes. In outdoor experimental streams, we examined how the structure of streambeds modifies the influence of light availability on microbial turnover of leaf carbon (C). Furthermore, we investigated whether the studied relationships of microbial leaf C turnover to environmental conditions are affected by flow intermittency commonly occurring in streams. We applied leaves enriched with a C-13-stable isotope tracer and combined quantitative and isotope analyses. We thereby elucidated whether treatment induced changes in C turnover were associated with altered use of leaf C within the microbial food web. Moreover, isotope analyses were combined with measurements of microbial community composition to determine whether changes in community function were associated with a change in community composition. In this study, we present evidence, that environmental factors interactively determine how phototrophs and heterotrophs contribute to leaf C turnover. Light availability promoted the utilization of leaf C within the microbial food web, which was likely associated with a promoted availability of highly bioavailable metabolites of phototrophic origin. However, our results additionally confirm that the structure of the streambed modifies light-related changes in microbial C turnover. From our observations, we conclude that the streambed structure influences the strength of photo-heterotrophic interactions by defining the spatial availability of algal metabolites in the streambed and the composition of microbial communities. Collectively, our multifactorial approach provides valuable insights into environmental controls on the functioning of stream ecosystems. KW - algae KW - bacteria KW - microbial interactions KW - C-13 stable isotopes KW - PLFA KW - terrestrial carbon KW - streambed structure KW - light Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01044 SN - 1664-302X VL - 9 PB - Frontiers Research Foundation CY - Lausanne ER - TY - THES A1 - Codutti, Agnese T1 - Behavior of magnetic microswimmers T1 - Verhalten magnetischer Microschwimmer BT - simulations for natural swimmers and synthetic propellers BT - Simulationen von natürlichen Schwimmern und synthetischen Propellern N2 - Microswimmers, i.e. swimmers of micron size experiencing low Reynolds numbers, have received a great deal of attention in the last years, since many applications are envisioned in medicine and bioremediation. A promising field is the one of magnetic swimmers, since magnetism is biocom-patible and could be used to direct or actuate the swimmers. This thesis studies two examples of magnetic microswimmers from a physics point of view. The first system to be studied are magnetic cells, which can be magnetic biohybrids (a swimming cell coupled with a magnetic synthetic component) or magnetotactic bacteria (naturally occurring bacteria that produce an intracellular chain of magnetic crystals). A magnetic cell can passively interact with external magnetic fields, which can be used for direction. The aim of the thesis is to understand how magnetic cells couple this magnetic interaction to their swimming strategies, mainly how they combine it with chemotaxis (the ability to sense external gradient of chemical species and to bias their walk on these gradients). In particular, one open question addresses the advantage given by these magnetic interactions for the magnetotactic bacteria in a natural environment, such as porous sediments. In the thesis, a modified Active Brownian Particle model is used to perform simulations and to reproduce experimental data for different systems such as bacteria swimming in the bulk, in a capillary or in confined geometries. I will show that magnetic fields speed up chemotaxis under special conditions, depending on parameters such as their swimming strategy (run-and-tumble or run-and-reverse), aerotactic strategy (axial or polar), and magnetic fields (intensities and orientations), but it can also hinder bacterial chemotaxis depending on the system. The second example of magnetic microswimmer are rigid magnetic propellers such as helices or random-shaped propellers. These propellers are actuated and directed by an external rotating magnetic field. One open question is how shape and magnetic properties influence the propeller behavior; the goal of this research field is to design the best propeller for a given situation. The aim of the thesis is to propose a simulation method to reproduce the behavior of experimentally-realized propellers and to determine their magnetic properties. The hydrodynamic simulations are based on the use of the mobility matrix. As main result, I propose a method to match the experimental data, while showing that not only shape but also the magnetic properties influence the propellers swimming characteristics. N2 - Die Forschung an Mikroschwimmern oder genauer gesagt an aktiv schwimmenden Mikroorganismen oder Objekten mit niedrigen Reynolds Zahlen, hat in den letzten Jahren wegen ihrer vielfältigen Anwendungen in der Medizin und Bioremediation stark an Bedeutung gewonnen. Besonders vielversprechend ist die Arbeit mit magnetischen Mikroschwimmern, da deren biokompatibler Magnetismus genutzt werden kann um die Schwimmer gezielt zu steuern. In dieser Arbeit werden zwei Beispiele von magnetischen Mikroschwimmern aus physikalischer Sicht untersucht. Das erste Modellsystem hierfür sind magnetische Zellen. Diese können entweder magnetische Biohybride (eine schwimm-Zelle gekoppelt mit einer synthetischen magnetischen Komponente) oder magnetotaktische Bakterien (natürlich vorkommende Bakterien die eine intrazelluläre Kette von magnetischen Kristallen produzieren) sein. Die passive Wechselwirkung der magnetischen Zelle mit einem externen Magnetfeld kann zu deren Steuerung genutzt werden. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es zu verstehen wie magnetische Zellen die magnetische Wechselwirkung mit ihre Schwimmstrategie verknüpfen, oder genauer gesagt, wie sie sie zur Chemotaxis (die Fähigkeit externe chemische Gradienten wahrzunehmen und die Fortbewegungsrichtung daran anzupassen) zu nutzen. Es ist immer noch nicht restlos geklärt worin in der natürlichen Umgebung der magnetischen Bakterien, wie beispielsweise in porösem Sediment, der Vorteil der Wechselwirkung mit dem externen magnetischen Feld liegt. In dieser Arbeit wurde ein modifiziertes „Active Brownian Particle model“ verwendet um mittels Computersimulationen experimentelle Ergebnisse an Bakterien zu reproduzieren, die sich frei, in einer Glaskapillare, oder in anders begrenzten Geometrien bewegen. Ich werde zeigen, dass abhängig von der Schwimmstrategie („run-and-tumble“ oder „runand-reverse“), aerotaktische Strategie (axial oder polar), und der Feldintensität und Orientierung, das magnetische Feld Chemotaxis beschleunigen kann. Abhängig von dem gewählten Modellsystem kann es jedoch auch zu einer Behinderung der Chemotaxis kommen. Das zweite Beispiel für magnetische Mikroschwimmer sind starre (z.B. Helices) oder zufällig geformte magnetische Propeller. Sie werden durch ein externes magnetisches Feld angetrieben und gelenkt. Hierbei stellt sich die Frage wie die Form der Propeller deren Verhalten beeinflusst und wie sie für eine bestimmte Anwendung optimiert werden können. Daher ist es das Ziel dieser Arbeit Simulationsmethoden vorzuschlagen um das experimentell beobachtete Verhalten zu reproduzieren und die magnetischen Eigenschaften der Propeller zu beschreiben. Hierfür wird die Mobilitätsmatrix verwendet um die hydrodynamischen Simulationen zu realisieren. Ein Hauptresultat meiner Arbeit ist eine neue Methode, welche die Simulationen in Einklang mit den experimentellen Resultaten bringt. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass nicht nur die Form sondern insbesondere auch die magnetischen Eigenschaften die Schwimmcharakteristik der Propeller entscheidend beeinflussen. KW - microswimmers KW - magnetism KW - bacteria KW - propellers KW - simulation KW - Microschwimmer KW - Magnetismus KW - Bakterien KW - Propeller KW - Simulationen Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-422976 ER -