Bacterial chemotaxis and entropy production.
Entropy production is calculated for bacterial chemotaxis in the case of a migrating band of bacteria in a capillary tube. It is found that the speed of the migrating band is a decreasing function of the starting concentration of the metabolizable attractant. The experimentally found dependence of speed on the starting concentration of galactose, glucose and oxygen is fitted with power-law functions. It is found that the corresponding exponents lie within the theoretically predicted interval. The effect of the reproduction of bacteria on band speed is considered, too. The acceleration of the band is predicted due to the reproduction rate of bacteria. The relationship between chemotaxis, the maximum entropy production principle and the formation of self-organizing structure is discussed.
Zupanović
Pasko
P
Faculty of Science, Mathematics and Kinesiology, University of Split, Teslina 12, 21000 Split, Croatia. pasko@pmfst.hr
Brumen
Milan
M
Jagodic
Marko
M
Juretić
Davor
D
D000054:Acceleration; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002633:Chemotaxis; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D019277:Entropy; D008954:Models, Biological