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Christopher Dombrowski, Ph.D.
Department of Physics
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

The seminar will consider interconnected aspects of bacterial motility, from the locomotion of a single bacterium to the collective dynamics of concentrated populations.  Proper understanding of the complexities of bacterial motion can only come from careful study of all aspects of motility:  hydrodynamic interaction of the cells, cell-cell contact interactions, chemotaxis, and the mechanism of propulsion.  A set of experiments will be presented that describe pattern formation and large scale fluid mixing. Our recently discovered modes of bacterial behavior contribute to the onset of collective polar alignment. They include reversal of swimming direction at boundaries and upstream swimming in shear flows.  Furthermore, a set of experiments quantifying the elastohydrodynamic properties of bacterial flagella will be described. These new insights together form a foundation for understanding the observed complex behavior.