Rajković KM, Milošević NT, Otašević S, Jeremić S, Arsenijević VA. Aspergillus fumigatus branching complexity in vitro: 2D images and dynamic modeling.
Comput Biol Med 2018;
104:215-219. [PMID:
30529573 DOI:
10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.11.022]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 11/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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.
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