picCASO

picCASO simulates spatial patterning dynamics of microbial consortia on two-dimensional surfaces in MATLAB to study quorum sensing–mediated self-organization and growth-rate coupling via modular synthetic devices and acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) signaling.

Key Features:

• Quorum sensing–mediated models: Implements quorum sensing–mediated frameworks to represent communication-driven growth dynamics and spatial patterning among bacterial strains.
• Modular synthetic devices: Represents modular synthetic devices that couple growth rates of different microbial strains to generate emergent spatiotemporal patterns from varied initial configurations.
• AHL-based control mechanisms: Enables modulation of acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) secretion rates to control intercellular signaling and relative species abundances within spatially organized populations.
• Simulation accuracy: Reproduces experimental observations from studies of pattern formation in synthetic multicellular systems for validation of model behavior.
• Distributed genetic circuit modeling: Supports modeling of intricate genetic circuits distributed across communicating microbial strains to investigate collective circuit behavior.

Scientific Applications:

• Synthetic biology research: Investigating principles of spatial organization in microbial communities and design rules for pattern formation.
• Engineering microbial consortia: Designing and analyzing synthetic consortia where quorum sensing and AHL-mediated coupling control spatial composition and population dynamics.
• Distributed cellular computation: Studying distributed genetic circuits and collective computation implemented across communicating bacterial strains.

Methodology:

Employs a cellular automaton approach on 2D surfaces, integrates quorum sensing–mediated communication, models coupling of growth rates via modulation of AHL secretion rates, and simulates varied initial configurations to assess parameter impacts on spatial patterning.