Self-Similar Colony Morphogenesis by Bacteria as the Experimental Model of Fractal Growth by a Cell Population

Bacteria point inoculated onto the solid medium exert two-dimensional spreading growth on the surface. The colony morphologies are rich in diversity and depend on various biological and physico-chemical factors. Since it is easy to pursue the growth processes macro- and microscopically and to carry out experiments by controlling specific factors, precise experimental approaches to morphogenesis by living cells have now become possible. Several critical factors for self-similar morphogenesis were identified.