Quantifying two-dimensional filamentous and invasive growth spatial patterns in yeast colonies

Benjamin J Binder; Joanna F Sundstrom; Jennifer M Gardner; Vladimir Jiranek; Stephen G Oliver

doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004070

Quantifying two-dimensional filamentous and invasive growth spatial patterns in yeast colonies

PLoS Comput Biol. 2015 Feb 26;11(2):e1004070. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004070. eCollection 2015 Feb.

Authors

Benjamin J Binder¹, Joanna F Sundstrom², Jennifer M Gardner², Vladimir Jiranek², Stephen G Oliver³

Affiliations

¹ School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
² School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Campus, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
³ Cambridge Systems Biology Centre and Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Abstract

The top-view, two-dimensional spatial patterning of non-uniform growth in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast colony is considered. Experimental images are processed to obtain data sets that provide spatial information on the cell-area that is occupied by the colony. A method is developed that allows for the analysis of the spatial distribution with three metrics. The growth of the colony is quantified in both the radial direction from the centre of the colony and in the angular direction in a prescribed outer region of the colony. It is shown that during the period of 100-200 hours from the start of the growth of the colony there is an increasing amount of non-uniform growth. The statistical framework outlined in this work provides a platform for comparative quantitative assays of strain-specific mechanisms, with potential implementation in inferencing algorithms used for parameter-rate estimation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Computational Biology
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Models, Biological*
Saccharomyces cerevisiae / cytology
Saccharomyces cerevisiae / growth & development*
Saccharomyces cerevisiae / physiology*

Grants and funding

This research was supported under the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Project APP1069757 and the Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP130103547 as well as travel support for SGO from the Waite Research Institute. The University of Adelaide is a member of the Wine Innovation Cluster in Adelaide (wineinnovationcluster.com) The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.