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SUMMARY:Bacterial transport in dilute and porous environments - Christina 
 Kurzthaler (Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems)
DTSTART:20240227T130000Z
DTEND:20240227T140000Z
UID:TALK209749@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Sarah Loos
DESCRIPTION:Unraveling the motion of microorganisms in dilute and porous m
 edia is important for our understanding of both the molecular basis of the
 ir swim gait and their survival strategies in microbial habitats. First\, 
 I will show that by using renewal processes to analyze experimental measur
 ements of wild-type {\\it E. Coli}\, we can provide a quantitative spatiot
 emporal characterization of their run-and-tumble dynamics in bulk [1\,2]. 
 We further demonstrate quantitatively how the persistence length of an eng
 ineered strain can be controlled by a chemical inducer and characterize a 
 transition from perpetual tumbling to smooth swimming. Second\, I will add
 ress how this run-and-tumble gait evolves towards a hop-and-trap motility 
 pattern of agents moving in a porous environment [3]. Using computer simul
 ations\, we discover a geometric criterion for their optimal spreading\, w
 hich emerges when their persistence lengths are comparable to the longest 
 straight path available in the porous medium. Our criterion provides a fun
 damental principle for optimal transport in densely-packed biological and 
 environmental settings\, which could be tested experimentally by using eng
 ineered cells and may provide insights into microbial adaption mechanisms.
  \n\n[1] C Kurzthaler\, Y Zhao et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 132 (2024) \n\n[2] 
 Y Zhao\, C Kurzthaler et al. Phys. Rev. E 109 (2024) \n\n[3] C Kurzthaler 
 et al. Nat. Commun. 12\, 7088 (2021)
LOCATION:Center for Mathematical Sciences\, Lecture room MR4
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