THE MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF THE MICROBIAL GROWTH PROCESS

Abstract

The models of microbial system have a history that includes research in various fields of evolution, ecology and more recently optimization algorithms (we refer there especially the mimetic bacterial growth algorithm). The growth of bacteria population in bioreactors is made often using mathematical models as premises for optimization and control. Food webs and microbial food chains are subject of models by differential equations. The tool propose to use the most common representation of the microbial systems, a two layered mechanism as a cascade of two biological reaction where one substrate is the subject of consumer by one microorganism that serves a limiter substrate for the second microorganism. The system modeled by system of differential equations call the Matlab solver for numerical solutions. The user has the possibility to use predefined constants, user-defined constants or optimized ones for stability analysis. A second module that are implemented in the main program deals with more recent approach, the three-layered 'food-web', where a third organism is added to model. The model can test the influence of growth organisms as interaction between multiple species. The user has the possibility to create the system of equation using a Constructor Builder. The parser from this module will translate the text-code in an .m file callable from Matlab as system used be ODE solver. The visualization module display in a GUI (Graphic User Interface) the result of simulation. The tool is useful for understanding and prediction of microbial colony growth but also offer a perspective for future development of additional modules for microbial ecology.