title: Fluid-mechanical interaction of flexible bacterial flagella by the immersed boundary method.
abstract: Flagellar bundling is an important aspect of locomotion in bacteria such as Escherichia coli. To study the hydrodynamic behavior of helical flagella, we present a computational model that is based on the geometry of the bacterial flagellar filament at the micrometer scale. We consider two model flagella, each of which has a rotary motor at its base with the rotation rate of the motor set at 100 Hz. Bundling occurs when both flagella are left-handed helices turning counterclockwise (when viewed from the nonmotor end of the flagellum looking back toward the motor) or when both flagella are right-handed helices turning clockwise. Helical flagella of the other combinations of handedness and rotation direction do not bundle.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Cincinnati, 4199 French Hall West, Cincinnati, Ohio 45221, USA. sookkyung.lim@uc.edu
authors.forename: Sookkyung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Peskin
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005407:Flagella / Q000378:metabolism*; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D007101:Immersion; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement; D012399:Rotation; D014783:Viscosity