Related papers: Bending Instability of Rod-shaped Bacteria
We present a novel buckling instability relevant to membrane budding in eukaryotic cells. In this mechanism, curved filaments bind to a lipid bilayer without changing its intrinsic curvature. As more and more filaments adsorb, newly added…
Rubber components and soft tissues are often subjected to large bending deformations "in service". The circumferential line elements on the inner face of a bent block can contract up to a certain critical stretch ratio lambda_cr (say)…
We combine experiments with simulations to investigate the fluid-structure interaction of a flexible helical rod rotating in a viscous fluid, under low Reynolds number conditions. Our analysis takes into account the coupling between the…
Collective behavior of bacterial colonies plays critical roles in adaptability, survivability, biofilm expansion and infection. We employ an individual-based model of an interstitial biofilm to study emergent pattern formation based on the…
Genetically engineered bacteria to increase the tumbling frequency of the run-and-tumble motion for the higher local bacterial density form visible stripe pattern composed of successive high and low density regions on an agar plate. We…
We use the mean-bacterial-velocity model to investigate the \textit{irreversibility} of two-dimensional (2D) \textit{bacterial turbulence} and to compare it with its 2D fluid-turbulence counterpart. We carry out extensive direct numerical…
In natural environments, solid surfaces present both opportunities and challenges for bacteria. On one hand, they serve as platforms for biofilm formation, crucial for bacterial colonization and resilience in harsh conditions. On the other…
The recent discovery of a lateral organization in cell membranes due to small structures called 'rafts' has motivated a lot of biological and physico-chemical studies. A new experiment on a model system has shown a spectacular budding…
The coarsening kinetics for the beading instability for liquid contained in a groove with convex curved sides (for example between a pair of parallel touching cylinders) is considered as an open channel flow problem. In contrast to a…
Various rod-shaped bacteria such as the canonical gram negative Escherichia coli or the well-studied gram positive Bacillus subtilis divide symmetrically after they approximately double their volume. Their size at division is not constant,…
(substantial changes to section 3.2, otherwise minor) We present an analysis of the hydrodynamic stability of a cold slab bounded by two accretion shocks. Previous numerical work has shown that when the Mach number of the shock is large the…
Intracellular pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes and Rickettsia rickettsii move within a host cell by polymerizing a comet-tail of actin fibers that ultimately pushes the cell forward. This dense network of cross-linked actin polymers…
We study the bendocapillary instability of a liquid droplet that part fills a flexible walled channel. Inspired by experiments in which a `weaving' pattern emerges as droplets of liquid are condensed slowly into deformable microchannels, we…
In a seed plant a pollen tube is a vessel that transports male gamete cells to an ovule to achieve fertilization. It consists of one elongated cell, which exhibits growth oscillations, until it bursts completing its function. Up till now,…
Densely packed, motile bacteria can adopt collective states not seen in conventional, passive materials. These states remain in many ways mysterious, and their physical characterization can aid our understanding of natural bacterial…
Bacteria on surfaces exhibit collective behaviors, such as active turbulence and active stresses, which result from their motility, growth, and interactions with their local surroundings. However, interfacial deformations on soft surfaces…
Optical tweezers are a versatile tool that can be used to manipulate small particles including both motile and non-motile bacteria and cells. The orientation of a non-spherical particle within a beam depends on the shape of the particle and…
A light-weight "inflatable" tensioned-membrane-structure vacuum container is proposed and its stability is analyzed. The proposed structure consists of a pressurized lobed cylindrical "wall" surrounding a central evacuated space. Stability…
Run-and-tumble is a common but vital strategy that bacteria employ to explore environment suffused with boundaries, as well as to escape from entrapment. In this study we reveal how this strategy and the resulting dynamical behavior can be…
Bacteria commonly inhabit porous environments such as host tissues, soil, and marine sediments, where complex geometries constrain and redirect their motion. Although bacterial motility has been studied in porous media, the roles of cell…