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Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Confocal Imaging of Confined Quiescent and Flowing Colloid-polymer Mixtures
Published on: May 20, 2014
Bacterial transport of colloids in liquid crystalline environments
Rishi R Trivedi1, Rina Maeda1, Nicholas L Abbott2
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 440 Henry Mall, Madison, WI 53706, USA. weibel@biochem.wisc.edu.
Abstract:
We describe the controlled transport and delivery of non-motile eukaryotic cells and polymer microparticles by swimming bacteria suspended in nematic liquid crystals. The bacteria push reversibly attached cargo in a stable, unidirectional path (or along a complex patterned director field) over exceptionally long distances. Numerical simulations and analytical predictions for swimming speeds provide a mechanistic insight into the hydrodynamics of the system. This study lays the foundation for using cargo-carrying bacteria in engineering applications and for understanding interspecies interactions in polymicrobial communities.
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