Stochastic Individual-Based Modeling of Bacterial Growth and Division Using Flow Cytometry

Authored by Miriam R Garcia, Jose A Vazquez, Isabel G Teixeira, Antonio A Alonso

Date Published: 2018

DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02626

Sponsors: European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas CSIC)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

A realistic description of the variability in bacterial growth and division is critical to produce reliable predictions of safety risks along the food chain. Individual-based modeling of bacteria provides the theoretical framework to deal with this variability, but it requires information about the individual behavior of bacteria inside populations. In this work, we overcome this problem by estimating the individual behavior of bacteria from population statistics obtained with flow cytometry. For this objective, a stochastic individual-based modeling framework is defined based on standard assumptions during division and exponential growth. The unknown single-cell parameters required for running the individual-based modeling simulations, such as cell size growth rate, are estimated from the flow cytometry data. Instead of using directly the individual-based model, we make use of a modified Fokker-Plank equation. This only equation simulates the population statistics in function of the unknown single-cell parameters. We test the validity of the approach by modeling the growth and division of Pediococcus acidilactici within the exponential phase. Estimations reveal the statistics of cell growth and division using only data from flow cytometry at a given time. From the relationship between the mother and daughter volumes, we also predict that P. acidilactici divide into two successive parallel planes.

Tags

cell cycle Individual-based modeling Simulations Optimization stochastic modeling Populations Quality Escherichia-coli Risk-assessment Predictive microbiology Mathematics Bacterial growth and division Modified fokker-planck equation Flow cytometry Coccoid bacteria Predictive food microbiology Lactic-acid bacteria Cell-size homeostasis