Maze-solving by chemotaxis.

Here, we report on numerical simulations showing that chemotaxis will take a body through a maze via the shortest possible route to the source of a chemoattractant. This is a robust finding that does not depend on the geometrical makeup of the maze. The predictions are supported by recent experimental studies which have shown that by moving down gradients in pH , a droplet of organic solvent can find the shortest of multiple possible paths through a maze to an acid-soaked exit. They are also consistent with numerical and experimental evidence that plant-parasitic nematodes take the shortest route through the labyrinth of air-filled pores within soil to preferred host plants that produce volatile chemoattractants. The predictions support the view that maze-solving is a robust property of chemotaxis and is not specific to particular kinds of maze or to the fractal structure of air-filled channels within soils.