| Speaker: | Nicholas Darnton ( (Rowland Institute at Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts) | |||
| Title: | The role of flagellar polymorphism in swimming and swarming. |
| Abstract: |
During swimming, the flagella of mono- as well as multi-flagellated bacteria alter shape in response to changing applied forces. These shape changes are usually associated with changes in motor speed(s) that occur during `tumbling' or reorientation. We use video microscopy of fluorescently labeled swimming cells, in parallel with force-extension measurements on individual flagellar filaments, to investigate dynamic shape changes in flagella. Although swarming cells are packed too densely to perform traditional 'tumbling', polymorphic changes do occur during swarming cell reversals.
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