The Numerical Simulation of the rivalry between aerobic and anaerobic bacteria species in a chemostat model

Abstract

Abstract We investigate a chemostat model that contains interaction between two bacteria species, the aerobic species, and a facultative anaerobic species. The competition is restricted on the dissolved oxygen where the aerobic species consumes the oxygen for growth, on the other hand, the facultative anaerobic species do not need the dissolved oxygen for growth. We found that the aerobic growth rate is more extensive compared to that of its competition, the anaerobic species. During our study of the chemostat system, we found three equilibria solutions. The first one is found at the initial dissolved oxygen concentration with the condition of both species washed out. The second equilibrium point is seen when both the dissolved oxygen and the aerobic species present, and finally, the third equilibrium point is found when the dissolved oxygen and the facultative anaerobic species present. We used MATLAB software to simulate these aforementioned three equilibria.