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Talk abstract Quantitative Modeling of Bacterial Aggregation
Based on `Energy Taxis'  Alexander Mogilner Department of
Mathematics and Institute of Theoretical Dynamics University of
California at Davis  (Collaborators: B. Mazzag, UC-Davis, and
I.Zhulin, Loma Linda University).  Bacterial chemotaxis is the
term for biased motion of bacteria toward chemoattractants.
Mechanism of chemotaxis is well studied and is based on fast
decrease of turning frequency when local conditions get more
favorable and slow adaptation to a baseline frequency. As a
result, bacteria alternate between longer "runs" up the gradient
of chemoattractants and shorter runs down the gradient.
Biochemically, this mechanism depends on fast phosphorylation
and slow methylation reactions. Because time scale of
methylation reactions is of the same order of magnitude, as that
of the cellular movement, chemotaxis is the system with memory,
and its mathematical description is extreme