Bacteria can form interconnected microcolonies when a self-excreted product reduces their surface motility: evidence from individual-based model simulations
Authored by Guillaume Deffuant, Nabil Mabrouk, Tim Tolker-Nielsen, Claude Lobry
Date Published: 2010
DOI: 10.1007/s12064-009-0078-8
Sponsors:
No sponsors listed
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
ODD
Mathematical description
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Recent experimental observations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a model
bacterium in biofilm research, reveal that, under specific growth
conditions, bacterial cells form patterns of interconnected
microcolonies. In the present work, we use an individual-based model to
assess the involvement of bacteria motility and self-produced
extracellular substance in the formation of these patterns. In our
simulations, the pattern of interconnected microcolonies appears only
when bacteria motility is reduced by excreted extracellular
macromolecules. Immotile bacteria form isolated microcolonies and
constantly motile bacteria form flat biofilms. Based on experimental
data and computer simulations, we suggest a mechanism that could be
responsible for these interconnected microcolonies.
Tags
ecology
growth
Protocol
Involvement
Microbial
biofilms
Iv pili
Multicellular structures
Cellular-automaton approach
Pseudomonas-aeruginosa biofilms
Extracellular dna