Virga Epifanio G
Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Pavia, Via Ferrata 5, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2014 Nov 28;372(2029). doi: 10.1098/rsta.2013.0360.
Gliding is a means of locomotion on rigid substrates used by a number of bacteria, including myxobacteria and cyanobacteria. One of the hypotheses advanced to explain this motility mechanism hinges on the role played by the slime filaments continuously extruded from gliding bacteria. This paper solves, in full, a non-linear mechanical theory that treats as dissipative shocks both the point where the extruded slime filament comes into contact with the substrate, called the filament's foot, and the pore on the bacterium outer surface from where the filament is ejected. I prove that kinematic compatibility for shock propagation requires that the bacterium uniform gliding velocity (relative to the substrate) and the slime ejecting velocity (relative to the bacterium) must be equal, a coincidence that seems to have already been observed.
滑行是包括黏细菌和蓝细菌在内的许多细菌在刚性基质上的一种运动方式。为解释这种运动机制而提出的一种假说，取决于从滑行细菌持续挤出的黏液丝所起的作用。本文完整地求解了一种非线性力学理论，该理论将挤出的黏液丝与基质接触的点（称为丝足）以及黏液丝从细菌外表面喷出的孔都视为耗散冲击。我证明了冲击传播的运动学相容性要求细菌的均匀滑行速度（相对于基质）和黏液喷出速度（相对于细菌）必须相等，这一巧合似乎已被观察到。
