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The flexibility of the bacterial flagellar hook is believed to have substantial consequences for microorganism locomotion. Using a simplified model of a rigid flagellum and a flexible hook, we show that the paths of axisymmetric cell bodies driven by a single flagellum in Stokes flow are generically helical. Phase-averaged resistance and mobility tensors are produced to describe the flagellar hydrodynamics, and a helical rod model which retains a coupling between translation and rotation is identified as a distinguished asymptotic limit. A supercritical Hopf bifurcation in the flagellar orientation beyond a critical ratio of flagellar motor torque to hook bending stiffness, which is set by the spontaneous curvature of the flexible hook, the shape of the cell body, and the flagellum geometry, can have a dramatic effect on the cells trajectory through the fluid. Although the equilibrium hook angle can result in a wide variance in the trajectorys helical pitch, we find a very consistent prediction for the trajectorys helical amplitude using parameters relevant to swimming P. aeruginosa cells.
Contact between particles and motile cells underpins a wide variety of biological processes, from nutrient capture and ligand binding, to grazing, viral infection and cell-cell communication. The window of opportunity for these interactions is ultima
The skill to swim fast results from the interplay between generating high thrust while minimizing drag. In front crawl, swimmers achieve this goal by adapting their inter-arm coordination according to the race pace. A transition has been observed fro
In a classic paper, Edward Purcell analysed the dynamics of flagellated bacterial swimmers and derived a geometrical relationship which optimizes the propulsion efficiency. Experimental measurements for wild-type bacterial species E. coli have reveal
Microorganismal motility is often characterised by complex responses to environmental physico-chemical stimuli. Although the biological basis of these responses is often not well understood, their exploitation already promises novel avenues to direct
Despite their importance in many biological, ecological and physical processes, microorganismal fluid flows under tight confinement have not been investigated experimentally. Strong screening of Stokelets in this geometry suggests that the flow field