title: Self-organizing models of bacterial aggregation states.
abstract: In this work, aggregation states of bacteria on engineered surfaces are investigated both from the experimental point of view and from the theoretical one. The starting point of this work is a series of experiments carried out on abiotic surfaces in which bacteria adhere forming self-organized patterns. To reproduce the main characteristics of the phenomenon a model based on self-organization of a group of agents has been used. The agents represent bacteria and are free to move on a given surface. On the basis of local rules they may adhere and then eventually form self-organized aggregates. Our numerical results demonstrate that few simple rules are able to explain the emergence of self-organized patterns. Depending on the parameters used, the model is able to reproduce the aggregation patterns observed under different experimental conditions and to predict the behavior of a culture of two bacterial species.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Microbiologiche Genetiche e Molecolari, Università di Messina, Salita Sperone, 31 I-98166 Villaggio S. Agata, Messina Italy. mfrasca@diees.unict.it
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caratozzolo
authors.forename: Santina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carnazza
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fortuna
authors.forename: Mattia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frasca
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guglielmino
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gurrieri
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marletta
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D002450:Cell Communication / Q000502:physiology*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017753:Ecosystem; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological