Bacterial conjugation simulation using hexagonal cellular automaton

This article proposes an approach to simulate the bacterial conjugation population using a cellular automaton with hexagonal cells and hexagonal neighborhood. Each cell has two possible values, empty or containing a bacterium, while each bacterium has two states: recipient or donor. Each donor bacterium has a pilus, represented by a red line, in one of its edges and the capability of donating genetic code, expressed as the capability of transforming recipient cells into donors. The proposed simulation is searching for emergent patterns and behaviors in a bacteria colony.