AUTOMATIC SYNCHRONIZATION OF GROWTH OF ESCHERICHIA-COLI

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. A131  (1) , 3-16
Abstract
Growth of bacteria in a fermenter is limited by an essential nutrient, e.g., Pi. After starvation, the culture is diluted by an automatic device in such a way that the limiting nutrient concentration allows exactly 1 doubling. After 10-16 automatic cycles, which can be achieved overnight, synchronous bacterial cycles occur spontaneously in nonlimiting culture conditions, i.e., open systems. The operating procedures of the prototype are outlined. This automatic synchronizer has a capacity of about 0.1 g dry bacterial wt/cycle. Synchrony and homogeneity index are suggested, and applied to concrete examples of synchronous growth in closed and open systems. The maintenance of good synchrony in an open system throughout 6 cell cycles shows that microbial growth and metabolism in a culture reflect the time schedule of the individual cell instead of being related to the statistical mean of a random cell population. The contradiction between the generation time variability observed under the microscope for individual clones and the amazing maintenance of good synchrony in the present culture, is also discussed.

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