Swimming of peritrichous bacteria is enabled by an elastohydrodynamic instability

Scientific Reports
Emily E RileyEric Lauga

Abstract

Peritrichously-flagellated bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, self-propel in fluids by using specialised motors to rotate multiple helical filaments. The rotation of each motor is transmitted to a short flexible segment called the hook which in turn transmits it to a flagellar filament, enabling swimming of the whole cell. Since multiple motors are spatially distributed on the body of the organism, one would expect the propulsive forces from the filaments to push against each other leading to negligible swimming. We use a combination of computations and theory to show that the swimming of peritrichous bacteria is enabled by an elastohydrodynamic bending instability occurring for hooks more flexible than a critical threshold. Using past measurements of hook bending stiffness, we demonstrate how real bacteria are safely on the side of the instability that promotes systematic swimming.

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Citations

Oct 12, 2018·The European Physical Journal. E, Soft Matter·Lyndon KoensEric Lauga
Feb 15, 2020·Journal of Physics. Condensed Matter : an Institute of Physics Journal·Gerhard GompperSohan Kale
May 23, 2020·Scientific Reports·Maria Tătulea-Codrean, Eric Lauga
Nov 28, 2019·Physical Review. E·Debasish Das, Eric Lauga
Jun 27, 2019·Proceedings. Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Kenta Ishimoto, Eric Lauga
Apr 13, 2021·Current Opinion in Microbiology·Marianne Grognot, Katja M Taute
Jul 21, 2021·PloS One·Mariia Dvoriashyna, Eric Lauga
Sep 13, 2021·Biophysical Journal·Guangzhe LiuJunhua Yuan

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
electron microscopy

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