The research team Christine Linne, Christian Kreis and Oliver Bäumchen from our department found out that algae have a light switch. They examined a kind of green algae named Chlamydomonas. These have two flagella (thin hairs) with which they can adhere to surfaces. Our researchers found that the adhesion of the hairs depends on the light irradiation. The results of the research project were published on September 25th, 2017 in a paper in the journal Nature:
Christian Titus Kreis, Marine Le Blay, Christine Linne, Marcin Michal Makowski and Oliver Bäumchen, „Adhesion of Chlamydomonas microalgae to surfaces is switchable by light”, Nature Physics, 25 September 2017
Image © Jan Vetter / MPIDS