Dresden 2006 – scientific programme

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AKB: Biologische Physik

AKB 1: Cellular Processes

AKB 1.3: Talk

Monday, March 27, 2006, 10:45–11:00, ZEU 255

Spatio-temporal protein dynamics in rod-shaped bacteria — •Elisabeth Fischer, Giovanni Meacci, and Karsten Kruse — Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Str.38, 01187 Dresden

In the bacterium E.coli, positioning of the division plane involves oscillations of the Min-proteins form one cell pole to the opposite. We study a possible mechanism underlying the oscillations by usage of a coarse-grained description in terms of partial differential equations. The analysis of the dynamics in a three-dimensional geometry akin to the bacterial shape shows oscillations that are reminiscent of the oscillations observed experimentally. In addition, we find several other dynamic states including traveling waves. Furthermore, we discuss the influence of noise on the oscillation pattern and compare our results to experiments.