The adhesion of unicellular alga Chlamydomonas to surfaces is light-dependent

Sunlight allows green algae to do more than just carry out photosynthesis. Some unicellular algae actually use light to switch the adhesion of their flagella to surfaces on and off - a phenomenon first discovered by physicists at the Göttingen Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization. These findings are particularly relevant to the development of bioreactors in which algae serve as a renewable raw material for producing biofuels.