Efficiency of the flagellar propulsion of Escherichia coli in confined microfluidic geometries

Libberton, Ben, Binz, Marie, Van Zalinge, H ORCID: 0000-0003-0996-1281 and Nicolau, Dan (2019) Efficiency of the flagellar propulsion of Escherichia coli in confined microfluidic geometries. Physical Review E: Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 99 (1). 012408-.

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Abstract

Bacterial movement in confined spaces is routinely encountered either in a natural environment or in artificial structures. Consequently, the ability to understand and predict the behavior of motile bacterial cells in confined geometries is essential to many applications, spanning from the more classical, such as the management complex microbial networks involved in diseases, biomanufacturing, mining, and environment, to the more recent, such as single cell DNA sequencing and computation with biological agents. Fortunately, the development of this understanding can be helped by the decades-long advances in semiconductor microfabrication, which allow the design and the construction of complex confining structures used as test beds for the study of bacterial motility. To this end, here we use microfabricated channels with varying sizes to study the interaction of Escherichia coli with solid confining spaces. It is shown that an optimal channel size exists for which the hydrostatic potential allows the most efficient movement of the cells. The improved understanding of how bacteria move will result in the ability to design better microfluidic structures based on their interaction with bacterial movement.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Flagella, Escherichia coli, Microfluidics, Movement, Models, Biological, Biomechanical Phenomena
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 Dec 2018 16:05
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:09
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevE.99.012408
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3029925