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Updated: Apr 15, 2026
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Combining Fluidic Devices with Microscopy and Flow Cytometry to Study Microbial Transport in Porous Media Across Spatial Scales
Published on: November 25, 2020
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Probabilistic models to describe the dynamics of migrating microbial communities
Joanna L Schroeder1, Mary Lunn2, Ameet J Pinto2
1Infrastructure and Environment Research Division, School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom; The Marine Biological Association of the UK, Plymouth, UK.
Plos One
|March 25, 2015
Summary
Two models predict how bacteria in fluids change as they travel through pipes. These models help understand microbial community shifts due to biofilm interactions in systems like drinking water networks.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Fluid Dynamics
- Mathematical Modeling
Background:
- Bacteria inhabit fluid conduits, forming biofilms on walls.
- Biofilms influence microbial composition in transported fluids.
- This impacts drinking water, medical devices, and ventilation systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop probabilistic models for microbial community dynamics in fluid transport systems.
- To investigate how biofilms affect bulk fluid microbial composition.
- To provide a framework for predicting changes in migrating microbial communities.
Main Methods:
- Developed a discrete birth-death process model for individual cell dynamics.
- Derived a continuous stochastic differential equation model for relative taxa abundance.
- Compared model performance and simulation results in drinking water distribution systems.
Main Results:
- Both models capture microbial community shifts during fluid transport.
- The discrete model simulates absolute cell numbers; the continuous model simulates relative abundance.
- Simulations offer insights into stochastic effects on non-stationary communities exposed to biofilms.
Conclusions:
- The models offer a novel Lagrangian framework for studying microbial dynamics in fluid transport.
- They provide new avenues for predicting microbial community composition influenced by biofilms.
- Results highlight the impact of stochasticity on microbial ecology in engineered systems.
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