Unraveling Biofilm formation and Removal Dynamics: a Computational Approach

A biofilm is a mode of bacterial life by which microorganisms can survive in stressful environments. It is composed of a microbial community that is enclosed in a protective matrix of self-produced polymeric substances attached to a solid surface. This structural matrix provides its inhabitants with exceptional resistance to antimicrobial agents, hence, making biofilms at the root of several industrial and health problems. In this thesis, the aim is to unravel the growth dynamics of biofilms using a computational approach where the interactions between individual bacterial cells are simulated, a modeling paradigm known as Individual based Modeling (IbM). While IbMs are already established in biofilms research, current implementations suffer from resorting to too simple mechanical models and from their inability to replicate the microbial cooperative patterns typically observed in biofilms, which hinders their ability to address real-world problems. As a result, this research aims to address the previous problems by developing a realistic 3D model with life-like bacterial shape and mechanics that is able to efficiently capture the biofilm's complex dynamics and simulate the cooperative growth behavior of the microbial community. Furthermore, inspired by concepts from game theory, a novel approach will be implemented to model the cooperative growth patterns in a biofilm. The aim is to orchestrate a reliable model to investigate this complex microbial phenomena in real-world settings.

Jaar van publicatie:2022

Toegankelijkheid:Open