Transient response of continuous cultures to changes in temperature

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Abstract
The purpose of this experimental study was to examine the transient response of a chemostat‐type continuous culture of Escherichia coli B to step changes in temperature by following transient limiting substrate concentration and calculating from it the transient growth rate. The transient response to step changes of temperature was tested for four different situations. In the first two cases, temperature was shifted down from 37 to 27°C., and 37 to 32°C. In the last two, it was shifted up from 32 to 37°C., and 27 to 37°C. When the temperature was shifted up, the growth rate increased rather rapidly to its transient maximum value and then decreased slowly until it, settled back into the steady‐state value. On the other hand, when the temperature was shifted down, the growth rate decreased relatively rapidly to its transient minimum and then it slowly increased and returned gradually to the steady‐state value. The magnitude of the transients was less than would be expected if the transient growth rates followed an Arrhenius function.