Lattice-based simulation of the effects of nutrient concentration and magnetic field exposure on yeast colony growth and morphology

TL;DR

This study introduces a lattice-based computational model to simulate how nutrient levels and magnetic fields influence yeast colony growth and morphology, providing insights into environmental effects on microbial structures.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel lattice-based simulation framework that incorporates yeast ploidy, nutrient limitation, and magnetic field effects on colony development.

Findings

Magnetic fields reduce yeast colony growth rate, density, and roundness.

Colony elongation and boundary fluctuations depend on nutrient levels and ploidy.

Simulations predict environment-dependent morphological changes in yeast colonies.

Abstract

Yeasts exist in communities that expand over space and time to form complex structures and patterns. We developed a computational lattice-based framework to perform spatial-temporal simulations of budding yeast colonies exposed to different nutrient and magnetic field conditions. The budding patterns of haploid and diploid yeast cells were incorporated into the framework, as well as the filamentous growth that occurs in yeast colonies under nutrient limiting conditions. Simulation of the lattice-based model predicted that magnetic fields decrease colony growth rate, density, and roundness. Magnetic field simulations further predicted that colony elongation and boundary fluctuations increase in a nutrient- and ploidy-dependent manner. These in-silico predictions are an important step towards understanding the effects of the physico-chemical environment on microbial colonies and for informing bioelectromagnetic experiments on yeast colony biofilms and fungal pathogens.