Modeling Mycobacteria behavior in time-lapse microscopy images

Laurène Donati

Semester Project

Section of Life Sciences and Technologies, EPFL

July 2014

Abstract

Modeling of biological systems aims to create accurate real-time responses of biological systems to internal and environmental stimuli. This multidisciplinary field of research is slowly emerging as an essential complement to traditional studies, and has been developed intensively in several subdisciplines of biology over the past years. Simulations of the behavior of microorganisms are however lacking. In order to simulate the behavior of a Mycobacteria colony over time, we developed the backbone of a computational model based on mathematical equations describing single-cell growth. We were able to generate basic synthetic images of colonial growth, and to estimate the evolution of the colony behavior knowing key biological, environmental and statistical parameters.