CELLULAR-DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS OF BACTERIAL CHEMOTAXIS

The temporal and spatial evolution of the density of populations of chemotactic bacteria have previously been modeled by phenomenological cell balance equations based on cell motion restricted to one dimension. These one-dimensional balance equations have been used to interpret the results of experiments involving three-dimensional motion of bacterial populations with symmetry in two of the three dimensions. We develop a computer simulation to rigorously model the movement of a large population of individual chemotactic bacteria in three dimensions. Results of the simulation are compared with results using a one-dimensional phenomenological model in order to verify the range of validity of this model under situations involving one-dimensional gradients of chemical attractants.