Abstract

Producing materials using synthetic biology requires understanding how biophysical and signalling driven patterning processes combine to generate structure. The simplicity of modelling and modifying bacteria make them an interesting model system to investigate patterning. In order to accurately model the biophysical and signalling processes CellModeller, an open-source, modular simulation framework, was used. CellModeller could accurately model the biophysical interactions between bacteria, but lacked the ability to effectively simulate diffusive signalling, so extensive modifications were needed to allow CellModeller to efficiently and accurately model signalling. This enables the further study of bacterial pattern forming systems which would allow the identification of possible architectures for generating Turing patterns in bacteria and investigation into how different biophysical effects such as growth and adhesion affect the morphology of these patterns.