Temperature Characteristics and Arrhenius Plots for Nominal Psychrophiles, Mesophiles and Thermophiles

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Abstract
The specific growth rates at various temperatures of 12 bacterial species [including Vibrio fischeri, V. psychroerythrus, Thermus aquaticus, Pseudomonas fluorescens, P. aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, B. megaterium, B. coagulans and B. stearothermophilus] were measured and plotted as Arrhenius profiles. Temperature characteristics and optimum temperatures for maximum specific growth rates were estimated from these curves. One of 2 forms of the Arrhenius profile is characteristic of each bacterium: one curve is a simple smooth curve with a single predominant slope at sub-optimum temperatures; the other is a more complex curve with 2 distinct slopes at sub-optimum temperatures. The simple curve describes bacteria across the entire biokinetic range, whereas the more complex curve occurs only with organisms which have optimum temperatures for replication > 37.degree. C. Describing bacteria in terms of these forms of the Arrhenius profile is less arbitrary than categorization based on optimum temperatures.

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