(89b) Microbial Community Modeling: The Cybernetic Perspective

Microbes are social organisms that do not live in isolation, but interact with each other to develop complex dynamics and higher-order properties as a community. Prediction of such emergent behaviors of microbial communities requires the understanding of how interspecies interactions are built and modulated in response to environment, which is fundamentally related to survival strategies of member species. The cybernetic modeling approach that views microorganisms as dynamic control systems optimally regulating the metabolism in varying environment therefore offers a promising framework for modeling community dynamics, beyond metabolic modeling of single organisms. In this talk, I will present motivation and case studies of using the cybernetic control laws in describing microbial interactions and community dynamics. Example applications extend from structurally tractable model communities to complex environmental systems such as those in sediments and soils. This talk highlights the capability of the cybernetic approach in predicting context-dependent complex interactions.