SPATIOTEMPORAL GROWTH OF BACTERIAL COLONIES

A continuum model for the spatiotemporal growth of bacterial colonies is introduced based on a coupled set of reaction-diffusion equations with local and nonlocal modes of colony growth. Local growth occurs where the colony is not close packed. Nonlocal growth occurs at the surface of a colony if local growth cannot account for the total amount of growth required by a global constraint. A model reaction scheme is used to extend the formalism to flux limited growth. In such cases a reaction zone within the colony is responsible for growth in both spherical colonies and biofilms. Modelling the growth of a bacterial colony on a flat solid surface requires anisotropy of the nonlocal growth component to be introduced.