Modeling the bacterial self-organization in a circular container along the contact line as detected by bioluminescence imaging

Abstract

This paper presents a one-dimensional-in-space mathematical model of a bacterial selforganization in a circular container along the contact line as detected by quasi-one-dimensional bioluminescence imaging. The pattern formation in a luminous Escherichia coli colony was modeled by the nonlinear reaction-diffusion-chemotaxis equations in which the reaction term for the cells is a logistic (autocatalytic) growth function. By varying the input parameters the output results were analyzed with a special emphasis on the influence of the model parameters on the pattern formation. The numerical simulation at transition conditions was carried out using the finite difference technique. The mathematical model and the numerical solution were validated by experimental data.