Rotational Control of Tethered Bacterial Flagellar Motor

Bacterial flagellar motors can be integrated with microfluidic systems to provide mechanical power at the micro- and nanoscale level. This paper describes a non-contact method based on hydrodynamic loading for controlling the rotational behavior of tethered flagellar motors in a microfluidic system. Experimental results indicate that with a small micro channel flow, tethered motors can be slowed down and ultimately stopped completely when the flow-induced torque on the cell body cancels out the torque capability of the motor. By using this technique, it is possible to synchronize the phase angles of multiple motors, which is critical in maximizing the performance of the hybrid flagellar motor-microfluidic system.