Experimental Investigation on the Validity of Population Dynamics Approach to Bacterial Colony Formation

Abstract

We have investigated the dynamics of a two-dimensional spreading of a bacterial population in a surface environment. After point inoculation of flagellated bacteria ( Bacillus subtilis ) on nutrient-rich semi-solid medium, the bacterial population grew up by multiplication and translocation of cells, and developed a homogeneous round colony. By comparing experimental results with those of numerical simulations of the model equation, we found that this homogeneous population growth of bacteria is an actual manifestation of growth dynamics described by the Fisher's equation.