Abstract
In this paper, we are interested in modeling the production of mucus by diatoms under the constraint of a nutrient limitation and carbon overabundance. The initial questioning comes from the observation of the so-called “liga” on the Aquitaine coast. The biological origin of the phenomenon is presented and discussed based on the existing literature. An original mathematical model incorporating mucus secretion is proposed and its theoretical properties are analized: well-posedness and differentiability with respect to the model parameters. Finally, numerical experiments are provided, investigating the possibility of parameter identification for the model using chemostat-type experiments.
Subject
Modeling and Simulation,Applied Mathematics