Zipping and Entanglement in Flagellar Bundle of E. Coli: Role of Motile Cell Body

Abstract

The course of a peritrichous bacterium such as E. coli crucially depends on the level of synchronization and self-organization of several rotating flagella. However, the rotation of each flagellum generates counter body movements which in turn affect the flagellar dynamics. Using a detailed numerical model of an E. coli, we demonstrate that flagellar entanglement, besides fluid flow relative to the moving body, dramatically changes the dynamics of flagella from that compared to anchored flagella. In particular, bundle formation occurs through a zipping motion in a remarkably rapid time, affected little by initial flagellar orientation. A simplified analytical model supports our observations. Finally, we illustrate how entanglement, hydrodynamic interactions, and body movement contribute to zipping and bundling.

5 pages

References in corpus (3)

• The hydrodynamics of swimming microorganisms
• Synchronization of rotating helices by hydrodynamic interactions
• Discrete elastic model for stretching-induced flagellar polymorphs

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Active Brownian particles and run-and-tumble particles separate inside a maze
• Impacts of multiflagellarity on stability and speed of bacterial locomotion
• Bacterial swarmer cells in confinement: A mesoscale hydrodynamic simulation study
• Flow properties and hydrodynamic interactions of rigid spherical microswimmers
• Geometrical constraints on the tangling of bacterial flagellar filaments
• Shape-asymmetry and flexibility in active cross-stream migration in nonuniform shear