Discrete Models for Real Processes

Construction of inhomogeneous 3D mesh for simulation of bacterial cell growth and division by cellular automata

A. A. Vitvitsky

Institute of Computational Mathematics and Mathematical Geophysics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

Abstract: A method for constructing a 3D mesh for computer simulating the dynamics of a bacterial cells surface by cellular automata is presented. The idea of the proposed method is based on the dividing the cell surface into layers having the form of rings of nodes. This enables to change separate parts of the mesh structure without rebuilding the entire surface. Moreover, a fast algorithm for determining the neighbourhood of nodes on the spheroidal parts of the cell surface has been developed. The proposed algorithms have been implemented as a software package. A series of computational experiments showed the effectiveness of the proposed method for simulation of the interactions between the complex processes inside bacterial cells, leading to dynamical change of their surface.

Keywords: cellular automata, self-organization, surface dynamics, computer simulation, cell growth and division, E.coli.

UDC: 519.6+576.3

DOI: 10.17223/20710410/29/9

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