Computer Simulations of Bacterial-Colony Formation

We present a novel computer simulation of bacterial-colony growth. The ingredients of the simulation are two local conditions: multiplication rate of bacteria in the interface, depending on agar concentration and agar plate moisture, and occupation rate of the sites of the cluster inside a small circle around the potential growth site, representing the nutrient concentration. Varying growth conditions, fractal, dense-branching morphology and compact-growth patterns have been observed, which is consistent with the experimental demonstrations.