Synchronization, slippage, and unbundling of driven helical flagella.

ABSTRACT: Peritrichous bacteria exploit bundles of helical flagella for propulsion and chemotaxis. Here, changes in the swimming direction (tumbling) are induced by a change of the rotational frequency of some flagella. Employing coarse-grained modeling and simulations, we investigate the dynamical properties of helical flagella bundles driven by mismatched motor torques. Over a broad range of distances between the flagella anchors and applied torque differences, we find a stable bundled state, which is important for a robust directional motion of a bacterium. With increasing torque difference, a phase lag in the flagellar rotations develops, followed by slippage and ultimately unbundling, which sensitively depends on the anchoring distance of neighboring flagella. In the slippage and drift states,

SUBMITTER: Reigh SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3747275 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature