Modeling of spatiotemporal patterns in bacterial colonies.
A diffusion-reaction model for the growth of bacterial colonies is presented. The often observed cooperative behavior developed by bacteria which increases their motility in adverse growth conditions is here introduced as a nonlinear diffusion term. The presence of this mechanism depends on a response which can present hysteresis. By changing only the concentrations of agar and initial nutrient, numerical integration of the proposed model reproduces the different patterns shown by Bacillus subtilis OG-01.
Lacasta
A M
AM
Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Avenida Dr. Marañon 44, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Cantalapiedra
I R
IR
Auguet
C E
CE
Peñaranda
A
A
Ramírez-Piscina
L
L
D000362:Agar / Q000494:pharmacology; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000502:physiology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology* / Q000254:growth & development; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D002455:Cell Division; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013997:Time Factors
D003470:Culture Media; D000362:Agar