Numerical Simulation of the Dynamics of Listeria Monocytogenes Biofilms

Abstract

A biofilm is a layer of microorganisms attached to a surface and protected by a matrix of exopolysaccharides. Biofilm structures difficult the removal of microorganisms, thus the study of the type of structures formed throughout a biofilm life cycle is key to design elimination techniques. Also, the study of the inner mechanisms of a biofilm system is of the utmost importance in order to prevent harmful biofilms formation and enhance the properties of beneficial biofilms. This study must be achieved through the combination of mathematical modelling and experimental studies. Our work focuses on the study of biofilms formed by Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen bacteria, specially relevant in food industry. Listeria is highly resistant to biocides and appears in common food surfaces even after decontamination processes. Their biofilms can develop quite different structures, from flat biofilms to clustered or honeycomb structures. In the present work, we develop 1D and 2D models that simulate the dynamics of biofilms formed by different strains of L. monocytogenes. All this models are solved with efficient numerical methods and robust numerical techniques, such as the Level Set method. The numerical re sults are compared with the experimental measurements obtained in the Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, CSIC (Vigo, Spain), and the Micalis Institute, INRA (Massy, France).