engleski

Electrochemical adhesion-based differentiation of algal cells

The structural features of algae are important for the fundamental understanding of cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions. Most work on algal cell-substrate interactions focuses on substrate properties, while structural features and surface properties of algae are neglected. The goal is to investigate the effects of algal structural features on adhesion and spreading at a charged liquid-liquid interface. Upon impact of the algal cell on the mercury interface, rapid deformation occurs, followed by membrane rupture and spreading of the intracellular contents on the interface, resulting in a double-layer charge displacement and registration of the amperometric signal of a single cell. Four unicellular algal species with different barrier structures were examined. The results show that algal cells with a thin elastic plasma membrane and with a cellulose amphiesma adhere and spread at species-specific potential ranges that are registered as well-defined amperometric signals. In contrast, algal cells with a thin theca encrusted with biocalcite and an organosilicate cell wall do not adhere to the charged interface and therefore do not generate an amperometric signal because they do not deform at the interface (1). These differences in adhesion behavior of algal cells determined amperometrically are consistent with reported mechanical properties of cells determined by AFM (2, 3). The ranges of surface charge density for algal adhesion at the mercury interface become broader with increasing complexity of the plasma membrane structure, so that the critical interfacial tension can be considered as a parameter for adhesion differentiation of soft algal cells. The electrochemical approach enables direct, rapid, high-throughput differentiation of algal cells, which could be used to monitor stressed algal cells in a disturbed aquatic environment.

algae ; adhesion ; differentiation ; electrochemistry

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