Mathematical Institute

Thu, 23 May 2024

12:00 - 13:00

Mathematical models for biological cooperation: lessons from bacteria

Maria Tatulea-Codrean

(University of Cambridge)

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Further Information

Maria is a member of the Biological Fluid Mechanics group. Her current research interests revolve around the themes of flows (flows around and in between filaments, flows in membranes), motors (in particular, bacterial flagellar motors) and oscillators (synchronization of coupled non-linear oscillators, and biological rhythms more broadly).

Abstract

Cooperation occurs at all scales in the natural world, from the cooperative binding of ligands on

the molecular scale, to the coordinated migration of animals across continents. To understand

the key principles and mechanisms underlying cooperative behaviours, researchers tend to

focus on understanding a small selection of model organisms. In this talk, we will look through a

mathematician’s lens at one of the most well-studied model organisms in biology—the multiflagellated bacterium Escherichia coli.

First, we will introduce the basic features of swimming at the microscopic scale, both biological

(the flagellum) and mathematical (the Stokes equations). Then, we will describe two recent

theoretical developments on the cooperative dynamics of bacterial flagella: an

elastohydrodynamic mechanism that enables independent bacterial flagella to coordinate their

rotation, and a load-sharing mechanism through which multiple flagellar motors split the

burden of torque generation in a swimming bacterium. These results are built on a foundation of

classical asymptotic approaches (e.g., multiple-scale analysis) and prominent mathematical

models (e.g., Adler’s equation) that will be familiar to mathematicians working in many areas of

applied mathematics.

TBD

Mathematical models for biological cooperation: lessons from bacteria