Mathematical Modeling of Biofilm Structures Using COMSTAT Data

Mathematical modeling holds great potential for quantitatively describing biofilm growth in presence or absence of chemical agents used to limit or promote biofilm growth. In this paper, we describe a general mathematical/statistical framework that allows for the characterization of complex data in terms of few parameters and the capability to (i) compare different experiments and exposures to different agents, (ii) test different hypotheses regarding biofilm growth and interaction with different agents, and (iii) simulate arbitrary administrations of agents. The mathematical framework is divided to submodels characterizing biofilm, including new models characterizing live biofilm growth and dead cell accumulation; the interaction with agents inhibiting or stimulating growth; the kinetics of the agents. The statistical framework can take into account measurement and interexperiment variation. We demonstrate the application of (some of) the models using confocal microscopy data obtained using the computer program COMSTAT.