A Two-Component Model For Bacterial Chemotaxis

Chemotaxis is the directed cell movement in response to chemical signals. It iscrucial in many multicellular processes, such as wound healing, cancer metastasis,embryonic development and bioremediation. Quantitative descriptions of chemotaxiswill lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms of chemotaxis and is essentialin understanding the aforementioned processes.In this thesis, we study chemotaxis of the run-and-tumble bacteria <i>E. coli</i>. Wedevelop a mathematical model of <i>E. coli</i> chemotaxis at the single cell level. The modelconsists of two modules: The first describes how the cell transduces the external signalinto an internal signal (i.e. the change of the concentration of the intracellular proteinCheY_P ). Our description is based on an existing "trimers of dimers" model and weimprove the parameter estimation in this work. The second module is the change ofcell movement in response to the internal CheY_P change. We propose a new methodto interpret existing data on flagellar rotation. Finally we couple these two modulesand use the full model to simulate a population of cells.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mathematics

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Durney, Clinton H.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Xue, Chuan

• Applied Mathematics
• Biology
• Mathematical Biology
• Chemotaxis
• Mathematical Modelling

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366312981

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1366312981