Physics – Biological Physics
Scientific paper
2011-01-05
Phys. Rev. Lett. (2011) 106, 058103
Physics
Biological Physics
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.058103
Most bacteria swim through fluids by rotating helical flagella which can take one of twelve distinct polymorphic shapes. The most common helical waveform is the "normal" form, used during forward swimming runs. To shed light on the prevalence of the normal form in locomotion, we gather all available experimental measurements of the various polymorphic forms and compute their intrinsic hydrodynamic efficiencies. The normal helical form is found to be the most hydrodynamically efficient of the twelve polymorphic forms by a significant margin - a conclusion valid for both the peritrichous and polar flagellar families, and robust to a change in the effective flagellum diameter or length. The hydrodynamic optimality of the normal polymorph suggests that, although energetic costs of locomotion are small for bacteria, fluid mechanical forces may have played a significant role in the evolution of the flagellum.
Lauga Eric
Spagnolie Saverio E.
No associations
LandOfFree
Comparative hydrodynamics of bacterial polymorphism does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Comparative hydrodynamics of bacterial polymorphism, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Comparative hydrodynamics of bacterial polymorphism will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-398170