微生物学微生物学 (34).docVIP

Afterlearningthissection,youshouldbeableto:

Describethefourphasesofamicrobialgrowthcurveobservedwhenmicrobesaregrowninabatchculture

Populationgrowthisoftenstudiedbyanalyzingthegrowthofmicrobesinliquid(broth)culture.Whenmicroorganismsarecultivatedinbroth,theyusuallyaregrowninabatchculture;thatis,theyareincubatedinaclosedculturevesselwithasinglebatchofmedium.Becausenofreshmediumisprovidedduringincubation,nutrientconcentrationsdeclineandconcentrationsofwastesincrease.

Populationgrowthofmicrobesreproducingbybinaryfissioninabatchculturecanbeplottedasthelogarithmofthenumberofviablecellsversustheincubationtime.Theresultingcurvehasfourdistinctphases.

lagPhase

Whenmicroorganismsareintroducedintofreshculturemedium,usuallynoimmediateincreaseincellnumberoccurs.Thisperiodiscalledthelagphase.

Itisnotatimeofinactivity;rathercellsaresynthesizingnewcomponents.

Thiscanbenecessaryforavarietyofreasons.ThecellsmaybeoldanddepletedofATP,essentialcofactors,andribosomes;thesemustbesynthesizedbeforegrowthcanbegin.

Themediummaybedifferentfromtheonethemicroorganismwasgrowinginpreviously.

Inthiscase,newenzymesareneededtousedifferentnutrients.

Possiblythemicroorganismshavebeeninjuredandrequiretimetorecover.Eventuallyhowever,thecellsbegintoreplicatetheirDNA,increaseinmass,anddivide.Asaresult,thenumberofcellsinthepopulationbeginstoincrease.

ExponentialPhase

Duringtheexponential(log)phase,microorganismsaregrowinganddividingatthemaximalratepossiblegiventheirgeneticpotential,thenatureofthemedium,andtheenvironmentalconditions.Theirrateofgrowthisconstantduringtheexponentialphase;thatis,theyarecompletingthecellcycleanddoublinginnumberatregularintervals(figure7.27).

Thepopulationismostuniforminterms