Aspergillus fumigatus branching complexity in vitro: 2D images and dynamic modeling

Katarina M Rajković; Nebojša T Milošević; Suzana Otašević; Sanja Jeremić; Valentina Arsić Arsenijević

doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.11.022

Aspergillus fumigatus branching complexity in vitro: 2D images and dynamic modeling

Comput Biol Med. 2019 Jan:104:215-219. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.11.022. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Authors

Katarina M Rajković¹, Nebojša T Milošević², Suzana Otašević³, Sanja Jeremić⁴, Valentina Arsić Arsenijević⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, Serbia; College of Applied Studies of Technics and Technology, Kruševac, Serbia.
² Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
³ Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine University of Niš, Serbia, Public Health Institute-Niš, Serbia.
⁴ Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
⁵ Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine University of Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: mikomedlab@yahoo.com.

PMID: 30529573
DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.11.022

Abstract

Background: Aspergillus fumigatus causes serious infections in humans, and its virulence correlates with hyphal growth, branching and formation of the filamentous mycelium. The filamentous mycelium is a complex structure inconvenient for quantity analysis. In this study, we monitored the branching of A. fumigatus filamentous mycelium in vitro at different points in time in order to assess the complexity degree and develop a dynamic model for the branching complexity.

Method: We used fractal analysis of microscopic images (FAMI) to measure the fractal dimensions (D) of the branching complexity within 24 h of incubation.

Results: By photographing the filamentous mycelium dynamically and processing the images, the D variation curve of A. fumigatus complexity degree was obtained. We acquired the D variation curve which contained initial exponential period and stationary period of A. fumigatus branching. Further, the obtained data of D was modeled via the logistic model (LM) to develop a dynamic model of A. fumigatus branching for the prediction of the specific growth rate of branching value (0.23 h^-1).

Conclusions: Developed FAMI and LM models present a simple and non-destructive method of predicting the evolution of branching complexity of A. fumigatus. These models are useful as laboratory measurements for the prediction of hyphal and mycelium development, especially relevant to the pathogenesis study of aspergillosis, as well as pathogenesis of other diseases caused by moulds.

Keywords: Aspergilus fumigatus; Branching complexity; Fractal dimensions; Logistic model; Specific growth rate.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Aspergillosis*
Aspergillus fumigatus* / growth & development
Aspergillus fumigatus* / pathogenicity
Humans
Models, Biological*
Mycelium* / growth & development
Mycelium* / pathogenicity