Role of cell bending and slime navigation in swarms of \textit{M. xanthus}

Many bacteria use motility described as swarming to colonize surfaces that allows them to optimize their access to nutrients. The swarming of the bacterium \textit{M. xanthus} on surfaces is a remarkable interplay between motility mechanisms, cell flexibility, cell-cell adhesive interactions and directional reversals.~ The properties of individual cells from different mutant strains and density regimes will be demonstrated in this talk. Then, a computational model based on subcellular elements for cell representation and implemented on graphical processing units (GPUs) will be presented. High-quality high magnification movies of bacterial motility together with biologically justified computational simulations will be used for investigation of collective motion and order in swarming populations of bacteria.~ Collective motion will be shown to include the dynamical formation of cell clusters as well as streams of cells moving over networks of cell-generated slime tracks.