Abstract
Motivated by recent experimental measurements, the passive diffusion of the bacterium Leptospira interrogans is investigated theoretically. By approximating the cell shape as a straight helix and using the slender-body-theory approximation of Stokesian hydrodynamics, the resistance matrix of Leptospira is first determined numerically. The passive diffusion of the helical cell is then obtained computationally using a Langevin formulation which is sampled in time in a manner consistent with the experimental procedure. Our results are in excellent quantitative agreement with the experimental results with no adjustable parameters.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 066008 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Physical Biology |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Bacterial diffusion
- Brownian motion
- Helix
- Leptospira
- Slender bodies
- Stokes flow