Prof. Bruce Rodenborn, Centre College, Danville, KY

"Using direct measurements and numerical models as a noninvasive probe to understand structure-function relationships in swimming microorganisms"

Abstract: Swimming bacteria use a molecular motor and a helical flagellar filament for propulsion through their low Reynolds number environment, where nearby boundaries significantly increase the fluid forces and torques. My undergraduate research group uses low Reynolds number table-top experiments to test theories for objects such as cylinders, spheres, and helices moving near a boundary. We use these data to precisely calibrate numerical models that serve as a noninvasive measurement method. Our analysis and methods provide fundamental understanding of the swimming dynamics of simpler bacteria such as P. aeruginosa and lend insights into how more complicated bacteria with diverse body shapes swim and how their swimming is affected by the presence of a boundary.