Figure 2.

Growth dynamics of the model. (a, c, and e) Shown are the growth curves of the flagellum for a small diffusion coefficient D = 2 μm²/s in (a), medium D = 8 μm²/s in (c), and large D = 20 μm²/s in (e). The blue curve represents the numerical solution, i.e., the exact solution. The orange curve represents the analytical solution obtained by the quasistatic assumption. The two curves almost overlap to the extent that the blue one is invisible. The horizontal lines represent the length at which the rate-limiting step changes. (b, d, and f) Shown is the time a single motor spends on different steps during a transportation-diffusion cycle for the same diffusion coefficient as in (a), (c), and (e). The three curves include t_active for a motor to travel from the base to tip (orange), t_diff for a motor to travel from the tip to the base via diffusion (blue), and t_dwell for a motor to dwell at the tip waiting before diffusing and at the base waiting for injection (green). To see this figure in color, go online.