Interplay Between Energetics and Dynamics in Bacterial Motility

C.A. CONDAT; M.E. DI SALVO

PHYSICAL REVIEW E

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: Nueva York; Año: 2011 vol. 84 p. 1 - 6

1539-3755

We study how self-propelled organisms administer their energetic resources in order to optimize space exploration. Noting the existence of two very different time scales, we use a quasi-static approximation to analyze the relation between bacterial dynamics and changes in the energy stored by a bacterium. We then find both steady state and time-dependent solutions for the bacterial speed and stored energy. The model also predicts the volume of the region that a bacterium may visit in a resource-depleted medium.