Thermodynamic concepts in the study of microbial populations: age structure in Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cells.

ABSTRACT: Variability is a hallmark of microbial systems. On the one hand, microbes are subject to environmental heterogeneity and undergo changeable conditions in their immediate surroundings. On the other hand, microbial populations exhibit high cellular diversity. The relation between microbial diversity and variability of population dynamics is difficult to assess. This connection can be quantitatively studied from a perspective that combines in silico models and thermodynamic methods and interpretations. The infection process of Plasmodium falciparum parasitizing human red blood cells under laboratory cultivation conditions is used to illustrate the potential of Individual-based models in the context of predictive microbiology and parasitology. Experimental data from several in vitro cultures a

SUBMITTER: Ferrer J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3204994 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature