A Formal Model for the Simulation and Analysis of Early Biofilm Formation

Antonio Cerone, Enrico Marsili

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Biofilms are structured communities of bacterial cells adherent to a surface. This bacterial state is called sessile. This paper focuses on the modelling of the transition between planktonic and sessile state using Real-time Maude as the modelling language. With more and more bacteria joining the sessile community, the likelihood of producing a biofilm increases. Once the percentage of bacterial cells that adheres to the surface reaches a threshold, which is specific for the considered bacterium species, a permanent biofilm is formed. An important challenge is to predict the time needed for the formation of a biofilm on a specific surface, in order to plan when the material infrastructure that comprises such a surface needs to be cleaned or replaced. We exploit the model-checking features of Real-time Maude to formally prove that a regular cleaning or replacement of the infrastructure prevents the biofilm formation.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFrom Data to Models and Back - 9th International Symposium, DataMod 2020, Revised Selected Papers
EditorsJuliana Bowles, Giovanna Broccia, Mirco Nanni
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages134-151
Number of pages18
ISBN (Print)9783030706494
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes
Event9th International Symposium on From Data Models and Back, DataMod 2020 - Virtual, Online
Duration: 20 Oct 202020 Oct 2020

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume12611 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference9th International Symposium on From Data Models and Back, DataMod 2020
CityVirtual, Online
Period20/10/2020/10/20

Keywords

  • Biofilms
  • Formal methods
  • Real-Time Maude
  • Rewriting logic

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Theoretical Computer Science
  • General Computer Science

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