arXiv subjects

Marcus Roper

Publications and source records attributed to Marcus Roper.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Mushroom spore dispersal by convectively-driven winds

Thousands of fungal species rely on mushroom spores to spread across landscapes. It has long been thought that spores depend on favorable airflows for dispersal -- that active control of spore dispersal by the parent fungus is limited to an impulse delivered to the spores to carry them clear of the gill surface. Here we show that evaporative cooling of the air surrounding the mushroom pileus creates convective airflows capable of carrying spores at speeds of centimeters per second. Convective cells can transport spores from gaps that may be only a centimeter high, and lift spores ten centimeters or more into the air. The work reveals how mushrooms tolerate and even benefit from crowding, and provides a new explanation for their high water needs.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2014

Inertial migration of a rigid sphere in three-dimensional Poiseuille flow

Inertial lift forces are exploited within inertial microfluidic devices to position, segregate, and sort particles or droplets. However the forces and their focusing positions can currently only be predicted by numerical simulations, making rational device design very difficult. Here we develop theory for the forces on particles in microchannel geometries. We use numerical experiments to dissect the dominant balances within the Navier-Stokes equations and derive an asymptotic model to predict the lateral force on the particle as a function of particle size. Our asymptotic model is valid for a wide array of particle sizes and Reynolds numbers, and allows us to predict how focusing position depends on particle size.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Nuclear flow in a filamentous fungus

The syncytial cells of a filamentous fungus consist of a mass of growing, tube-like hyphae. Each extending tip is fed by a continuous flow of nuclei from the colony interior, pushed by a gradient in turgor pressure. The myco-fluidic flows of nuclei are complex and multidirectional, like traffic in a city. We map out the flows in a strain of the model filamentous fungus {\it N. crassa} that has been transformed so that nuclei express either hH1-dsRed (a red fluorescent nuclear protein) or hH1-GFP (a green-fluorescent protein) and report our results in a fluid dynamics video.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2009

Summoning the wind: Hydrodynamic cooperation of forcibly ejected fungal spores

The forcibly launched spores of the crop pathogen \emph{Sclerotinia sclerotiorum} must eject through many centimeters of nearly still air to reach the flowers of the plants that the fungus infects. Because of their microscopic size, individually ejected spores are quickly brought to rest by drag. In the accompanying fluid dynamics video we show experimental and numerical simulations that demonstrate how, by coordinating the nearly simultaneous ejection of hundreds of thousands of spores,\emph{Sclerotinia} and other species of apothecial fungus are able to sculpt a flow of air that carries spores across the boundary layer and around intervening obstacles. Many spores are sacrificed to create this flow of air. Although high speed imaging of spore launch in a wild isolate of the dung fungus \emph{Ascobolus} shows that the synchronization of spore ejections is self-organized, which could lead to spores delaying their ejection to avoid being sacrificed, simulations and asymptotic analysis show that, close the fruit body, ejected spores form a sheet-like jet that advances across the fruit body as more spores are ejected. By ejecting on the arrival of the sheet spores maximize \emph{both} their range and their contribution to the cooperative wind.

physics.flu-dyn↗