Dresden 2017 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 12: Microswimmers I (Joint Session DY/BP)
BP 12.5: Talk
Tuesday, March 21, 2017, 10:45–11:00, HÜL 186
Swimming Bacillus subtilis with different number of flagella — •Javad Najafi1, Florian Altegoer2, Thomas John1, Gert Bange2, and Christian Wagner1 — 1Experimental Physics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbruecken, Germany — 2LOEWE Center for Synthetic Microbiology (Synmikro), Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
Microorganisms generally use so called flexible appendages known as flagella to swim in aqueous media. Different species have various flagellar number and while single flagellum is enough for swimming, it is not understood well why some bacteria synthesize several flagella. We statistically investigate the swimming of multi-flagellated bacteria by characterizing the influence of flagellar number of genetically manipulated strains of Bacillus subtilis on diverse swimming parameters. We find that while numerous flagella are not significantly advantageous in terms of propulsion speed, it slightly changes running time and angular quantities. In a homogeneous medium, the strain with more flagella has an increased rotational diffusion and turning angle after tumbling. Consequently, the cells with more flagella tend to turn in larger angles that causes smaller translational diffusion coefficient and localized motion. We use Langevin simulation based on experimental parameters which enables us to disentangle the effect of turning angle and rotational diffusion on translational diffusion.