Growth, Survival, and Death

of Microorganisms
 Survival of the Microorganisms in the Natural
Environment
• Population of microorganisms
roughly remains constant
- growth
- death
• Survival of a microbial group is
influenced by:
- competition for survival
- microbiota
The Meaning of Growth
• Growth
- the orderly increase in the sum of all components of an organism

• Microbial Concentrations
- can be measured in terms of:

A. Cell Concentration (number of cells per unit volume of a culture)

B. Biomass Concentration (dry weight of cells per unit volume of a culture)

Measurements of Microbial Concentration
I. Viable Cell Count
- typical measurement of cell
concentration
- CFU/mL = (plate count x dilution x 10)
II. Turbidity
- measured by photoelectric means
III. Biomass Density
- measured by determining the dry
weight of a microbial culture