However, their parameterization of the bending modulus is not acceptable because it leads to an unreasonably large (0.5 metre) persistence length for a bacterial trichome.
In the force balance, the drag coeffcient is assumed to be the viscosity of water. Since the cells glide over a surface and next to other cells, it would seem that cell–cell friction and cell–surface friction might be at least as important as hydrodynamic drag. What about the viscosity of the material used in the “slime jet”?