Seminaris en biofísica/biomatemática, 21 de Gener, 12:30, Aula S.1 EPSEB
Daniel López-Codina i Clara Prats
INDISIM: IbM simulations to study emerging patterns in microbial cultures
Departament de Física i Enginyeria Nuclear, UPC

Microbiology is in the basis of biotechnology and its application to food industry, agriculture, waste management, medicine and environmental sciences, among others. Microbial populations and ecosystems are traditionally tackled through mathematical models that attempt to capture the essential features of such complex systems. Individual-based Modelling (IbM) is an approach to populations and communities that has been incorporated into microbiology in the last decade, with the aim of improving our understanding of the microbial cell cycle and the population dynamics. The group MOSIMBIO has developed an IbM methodology to address microbial systems, INDISIM, and has applied it to the study of bacterial, yeast and protozoa culture systems. On the one hand, our work aims to obtain results with a specific interest in predictive microbiology, environmental science and medical applications. On the other hand, we want to look for patterns and rules which are common in different microbial systems. We will show (i) the importance of considering randomness effects in microbes modelled behaviour, (ii) the significance of the evolution of the individual properties distribution in a population, (iii) the need for accurately modelling the maintenance energy effects, and (iv) the need of tackling the system at multiple temporal and spatial scales due to the connection of processes occurring at different levels.