A MICROSCALE MODEL OF BACTERIAL SWIMMING, CHEMOTAXIS AND SUBSTRATE TRANSPORT

In this paper, we introduce a mathematical and computational model at the microscale level of bacterial motility and chemotaxis coupled with the advection and diffusion of a biologically reacting substrate. The hydrodynamic interaction of a small bacterial population is explicitl y modelled through the use of discrete representations of individual m icrobes. We use the immersed boundary method to couple microbial motio n and the advection-diffusion of substrate with the full incompressibl e Navier-Stokes equations. Simulations using a preliminary two-dimensi onal model are presented, demonstrating the mutual dependence through the fluid media of several swimming bacteria. A run and tumble mechani sm is introduced for simulating the chemotaxis of swimming bacteria. ( C) 1995 Academic Press Limited.