Acoustophoresis of Legionella species in water and the influence of collective hydrodynamic focusing

Abstract

Legionella are gram-negative, facultative intracellular, and pathogenic bacteria that pose a risk for human health and cause significant energy losses due to extensive preventive heating-up of water installations. We investigate acoustically-driven motion - acoustophoresis - of several Legionella species, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acanthamoeba castellanii, a common Legionella host in water. All the investigated cells can be acoustically manipulated in an ultrasonic standing wave in water, as they possess a non-zero acoustic contrast that is positive for all of the cells, leading to the focusing into pressure nodes of the standing wave. Multi-body simulations indicate that an increase in cell concentration could significantly accelerate the rate of focusing due to hydrodynamic interactions - a phenomenon that we call collective hydrodynamic focusing (CHF). The results form a foundation for acoustic manipulation of bacteria and could pave a path towards acoustically-aided detection of Legionella in water.