Biology subjects

Chiolerio, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Chiolerio, A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Functionalising the electrical properties of Kombucha zoogleal mats for biosensing applications

Kombucha is a type of tea that is fermented using yeast and bacteria. During this process, a film made of cellulose is produced. This film has unique properties such as biodegradability, flexibility, shape conformability, and ability to self-grow, as well as be produced across customised scales. In our previous studies, we demonstrated that Kombucha mats exhibit electrical activity represented by spikes of electrical potential. We propose using microbial fermentation as a method for in situ functionalisation to modulate the electroactive nature of Kombucha cellulose mats, where graphene and zeolite were used for the functionalisation. We subjected the pure and functionalised Kombucha mats to mechanical stimulation by applying different weights and geometries. Our experiments demonstrated that Kombucha mats functionalised with graphene and zeolite exhibit memfractive properties and respond to load by producing distinctive spiking patterns. Our findings present incredible opportunities for the in situ development of functionalised hybrid materials with sensing, computing, and memory capabilities. These materials can self-assemble and self-grow after fusing their living and synthetic components. This study contributes to an emergent area of research on bioelectronic sensing and hybrid living materials, opening up exciting opportunities for use in smart wearables, diagnostics, health monitoring and energy harvesting applications.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2023

Bioelectrical Synchronisation of Spruce Trees during aSolar Eclipse

Regular light-dark cycles greatly affect organisms, and events like eclipses induce distinctive physiological and behavioural shifts. While well-documented in animals, plant behaviour during eclipses remains largely unexplored. Here we monitored multiple spruce trees to assess their individual and collective bioelectrical responses to a solar eclipse. Trees anticipated the eclipse, synchronising their individual bioelectrical behaviour hours in advance. Older trees displayed greater anticipatory behaviour with early time-asymmetry and entropy increases, characteristic of memory dynamics in open dissipative systems such as trees. These results reveal a complex relationship between individual and collective tree behaviour, shaped by individual age and physiology as well as collective history and memory. This highlights the adaptive significance of synchrony and collective memory in plants, offering new insights on coordinated behaviours in nature. One Sentence SummaryTrees anticipate and respond collectively to a solar eclipse.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Electrical spiking activity of proteinoids-ZnO colloids

We are studying the remarkable electrical properties of Proteinoids-ZnO micro-spheres with the aim of exploring their potential for a new form of computing. Our research has revealed that these microspheres exhibit behavior similar to neurons, generating electrical spikes that resemble action potentials. Through our investigations, we have studied the underlying mechanism behind this electrical activity and proposed that the spikes arise from oscillations between the degradation and reorganization of proteinoid molecules on the surface of ZnO. These findings offer valuable insights into the potential use of Proteinoids-ZnO colloids in unconventional computing and the development of novel neuromorphic liquid circuits.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2022

Bio-electric potentials in superior plants: electric collective behaviour

Electrical activity is used by plants in long term signalling and information transfer between the distant parts of the plant. Biopotential recordings from trees in a natural environment have been so far less discussed in scientific literature. Here we present our data about the open science experiment TRee-hUMAn iNterface (TRUMAN) located in Paneveggio forest (Valle di Fiemme, Trento, Italy), cultivated since one thousand years for the production of harmonic wood from Picea abies (red fir). We show that: i) biopotential features based on xylem can be correlated with the solar (and lunar) cycle ii) dead tree logs show an electrical activity that is correlated with that of neighbouring trees iii) statistical features of the spike-like peaks are evidenced, including amplitude, frequency, propagation speed, entropy iv) a quantum field theory is presented to highlight the collective behaviour of the forest, supported by preliminar correlation analyses between electrical signal Kolmogorov entropy and thermographies Shannon entropy.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2022

Fungal States of Minds

Fungal organisms can perceive the outer world in a way similar to what animals sense. Does that mean that they have full awareness of their environment and themselves? Is a fungus a conscious entity? In laboratory experiments we found that fungi produce patterns of electrical activity, similar to neurons. There are low and high frequency oscillations and convoys of spike trains. The neural-like electrical activity is yet another manifestation of the fungal intelligence. In this paper we discuss fungal cognitive capabilities and intelligence in evolutionary perspective, and question whether fungi are conscious and what does fungal consciousness mean, considering their exhibiting of complex behaviours, a wide spectrum of sensory abilities, learning, memory and decision making. We overview experimental evidences of consciousness found in fungi. Our conclusions allow us to give a positive answer to the important research questions of fungal cognition, intelligence and forms of consciousness.

animal behavior and cognition↗