To turn or not to turn?. (31st May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beta, Carsten
• Is Part Of: New journal of physics. Volume 18:Number 5(2016:May)
• Publication Date: 2016-05-31
• Subjects: bacterial swimming -- random walks -- diffusion -- stochastic models; Physics -- Periodicals; Physics; Periodicals; 530.05
• DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/18/5/051003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-2630

Abstract

Abstract: Bacteria typically swim in straight runs, interruped by sudden turning events. In particular, some species are limited to a reversal in the swimming direction as the only turning maneuver at their disposal. In a recent article, Großmann et al ( 2016 New J. Phys. 18 043009 ) introduce a theoretical framework to analyze the diffusive properties of active particles following this type of run-and-reverse pattern. Based on a stochastic clock model to mimic the regulatory pathway that triggers reversal events, they show that a run-and-reverse swimmer can optimize its diffusive spreading by tuning the reversal rate according to the level of rotational noise. With their approach, they open up promising new perspectives of how to incorporate the dynamics of intracellular signaling into coarse-grained active particle descriptions.