Abstract
We present a new numerical approach for modeling bacterial chemotaxis and the fate and transport of a chemoattractant in bulk liquids. This Lattice-Boltzmann method represents the microorganisms and the chemoattractant by quasi-particles that move, collide, and react with each other on a two-dimensional numerical lattice. We use the model to simulate traveling bands of bacteria along self-generated gradients in substrate concentration in bulk liquids. Particularly, we simulate Pseudomonas putida that respond chemotactically to naphthalene dissolved in water. We find that only a fraction of a bacterial slug injected into a domain containing the chemoattractant at constant concentration forms a traveling band as the slug length exceeds a critical value. An expanding bacterial ring forms as one injects a droplet of bacteria into a two-dimensional domain.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 302-332 |
Number of pages | 31 |
Journal | Journal of Mathematical Biology |
Volume | 51 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2005 |
Keywords
- Chemotaxis
- Lattice-Boltzmann modeling
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Modeling and Simulation
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Applied Mathematics