Hydrodynamic forces and band formation in swimming magnetotactic bacteria

Hydrodynamic Forces and Band Formation in Swimming Magnetotactic Bacteria

Dense suspensions of magnetotactic bacteria form long, thin, stable bands perpen­ dicutar to the common, net direction of motion of the cells in a magnetic field. A mechanism for this phenomenon is proposed in which the hydrodynamic coupling between two swimming cells is described in terms of an approximate, far-field solution for the flow around one swimming cell. The calculated hydrodynamic i...

Formation of magnetosomes in magnetotactic bacteria.

The ability of magnetotactic bacteria to orient and migrate along geomagnetic field lines is based on intracellular magnetic structures, the magnetosomes, which comprise nano-sized, membrane bound crystals of magnetic iron minerals. The formation of magnetosomes is achieved by a biological mechanism that controls the accumulation of iron and the biomineralization of magnetic crystals with a cha...

Genetics and cell biology of magnetosome formation in magnetotactic bacteria.

The ability of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) to orient in magnetic fields is based on the synthesis of magnetosomes, which are unique prokaryotic organelles comprising membrane-enveloped, nano-sized crystals of a magnetic iron mineral that are aligned in well-ordered intracellular chains. Magnetosome crystals have species-specific morphologies, sizes, and arrangements. The magnetosome membrane, ...

Magnetotactic bacteria and magnetosomes.

A model of hydrodynamic interaction between swimming bacteria.

We study the dynamics and interaction of two swimming bacteria, modeled by self-propelled dumbbell-type structures. We focus on alignment dynamics of a coplanar pair of elongated swimmers, which propel themselves either by "pushing" or "pulling" both in three- and quasi-two-dimensional geometries of space. We derive asymptotic expressions for the dynamics of the pair, which complemented by nume...