Agent-based modelling of motile bacterial populations with quorum sensing #

Devi Prasad Panigrahi, Philip Pearce

Poster session

Abstract #

We investigate the collective dynamics of bacteria with quorum sensing, a process in which cells communicate with each other using chemicals called auto-inducers (AI). In particular, we are interested in understanding pattern formation in systems in which cell motility is affected by quorum sensing. We have developed an agent-based framework which considers each cell to be a point particle that can both secrete and detect the presence of AIs. The motility of each particle is affected by the local concentration of AI through an internal gene regulatory network, which causes a decrease in cellular motility as the local AI concentration increases. Here we present an overview of the computational method and discuss some of the ongoing efforts in identifying the key mechanisms responsible for pattern formation in this system.