Modelling the emergence of spiral colony morphology in the yeast Magnusiomyces magnusii

Yeast species have several adaptations that enable them to survive in harsh environments. These adaptations include biofilm formation, where the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances can protect the cells from a hostile environment, or, under nutrient-limited conditions, pseudohyphal or hyphal growth, where the colony can send out long ‘tendrils’ to explore the environment and seek nutrients. Recently, we observed a spiral colony morphology emerge in an isolate of the hyphae-forming yeast Magnusiomyces magnusii grown under laboratory conditions. We use an off-lattice agent-based model (ABM) that simulates colony development to investigate the hypothesis that bias in the angle between successive hyphal segments causes the spiral morphology. The model involves biologically-motivated rules of hyphal extension, with key model parameters including the colony size at the onset of hyphal filaments, and the angle between the penultimate and the apical segments. Using one example of an experimentally-grown colony, we use a sequential neural likelihood method to perform likelihood-free Bayesian inference to infer the model parameters. Our results indicate a mean angle between hyphal segments of 2.3 ◦ [1.1 ◦ , 3.6 ◦ ] (95% credible interval). To confirm the model’s applicability to colony growth, we use biologically-feasible parameter values to yield morphologies observed in M. magnusii experiments.