Modeling biofilms in water systems with new variables: A review

Abstract

In nature, microorganisms mainly live in biofilms rather than planktonically to defend against various environmental stimuli. Understanding and predicting the dynamics and mechanisms of biofilms is of grand importance to human life. Besides experimental approaches, modeling provides a powerful tool to describe biofilms mathematically, and the in silico simulation offers a deep insight into the underlying functional machineries of biofilms. In this review, we briefly summarized the main advances in biofilm modeling, including the 1D model, multidimensional model, as well as the incorporation of extracellular polymeric substance and quorum sensing signals. Specifically, we focus on recent experimental advances in biofilms, which may challenge the current modeling systems via newly discovered properties and novel participants in natural water systems. We hope this article could build a bridge between in silico modeling and new experimental discoveries, and, in particular, we wish to attract more attention to biofilm-related-environmental issues at various scales.