Dataset for: Hydrodynamic interaction enhances colonization of sinking nutrient sources by motile microorganisms

This dataset contains results of numerical simulations of the motion of chemotactic bacteria (modeled as a force dipole) around a rigid, spherical nutrient source. The source is moving under the influence of gravity, and hydrodynamic interactions with the microorganism. The data has been obtained as a result of numerical simulations of bacteria motion near a sinking, spherical nutrient source of radius 'a'. In the simulation, a given number (1000 or 5000) of non-interacting bacteria are initially 'placed' uniformly within a disk of radius '2a' at a vertical separation '5a' below the source (e.g., a marine snow particle). The bacteria are assigned random initial orientations. The simulations run until either the bacteria are at separations greater than '50a' away from the center of the source, or a maximum simulation time is reached. The bacterial trajectories evolve according to the hydrodynamic and chemotactic interactions underpinning their motion. The data contains the time-averaged nutrient concentrations experienced by the bacteria in the simulations. This nutrient-exposure, in general, depend on a number of biophysical parameters, e.g., the size and speed of the nutrient source, the diffusivity of the nutrient emanating from the source, and the morphology of the bacteria involved. The dependency on each of these parameters is reflected in this dataset. This dataset supports the publication: Desai, N., Shaik, V. A., & Ardekani, A. M. (2019). Hydrodynamic Interaction Enhances Colonization of Sinking Nutrient Sources by Motile Microorganisms. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00289