Microbiology of the Health Sciences

 Growth takes place on two levels

◦ Cell synthesizes new cell components and increases
in size
◦ The number of cells in the population increases
 The Basis of Population Growth: Binary
Fission
Figure 7.13
– Generation or doubling time: The time required for a complete
fission cycle
– Each new fission cycle or generation increases the population by a
factor of 2
– As long as the environment is favorable, the doubling effect
continues at a constant rate
– The length of the generation time- a measure of the growth rate of
an organism
• Average generation time- 30 to 60 minutes under optimum
conditions
• Can be as short as 10 to 12 minutes
– This growth pattern is termed exponential
ATP for cellular processes

Carbon is necessary for the

production of many
macromolecules (proteins, lipids,
and carbohydrates)

Oxygen for metabolism

Nitrogen for amino acid synthesis

Sulfur for vitamins, amino acids,

structural stability of proteins
Phosphorous makes ATP and membranes

Trace elements are used for metabolic reaction in the

cell and cell component stabilization

cobalt
Co
potassium K
molybdenum
Mo
magnesium
Mg
manganese
Mn
calcium
Ca
iron
Fe
zinc
Zn
Organic growth factors such
as vitamins, amino acids, and
nucleic acids some growth
factors cannot be synthesized
by own cellular processes

Water

water activity
Heterotroph: uses organic
carbon source

Autotroph: uses inorganic

carbon dioxide

Phototroph: uses light as energy

source

Chemotroph: uses chemical

compounds (ie. glucose)

Saprobe

Parasite
[INSERT FIGURE 6.1]
 Inoculum introduced into
medium (broth or solid)
◦ Environmental specimens
◦ Clinical specimens
◦ Stored specimens

 Culture – refers to act of

cultivating microorganisms or
the microorganisms that are
cultivated
[INSERT TABLE 6.3]
 Special Culture Techniques
◦ Techniques developed for
culturing microorganisms
 Animal and cell culture
 Low-oxygen culture
 Enrichment culture
Chemically defined

Natural

Living
Enriched Media

added nutrient encourages

the growth of microorganisms
Selective Media

Selects form a microorganism

while inhibiting most others

Phenol Ethanol Agar

Deoxycholate Agar
Differential Media

Allow for the differentiation of

microorganisms based on
action that occurs on the media
or a color change within the
media that is based on a pH
change

Mannitol Salt Agar

MacConkey Agar
What type of media is
Blood Agar considered?

A. Enriched
B. Selective
C. Differential
• A population of bacteria does not maintain its potential growth rate
and double endlessly
• A population displays a predictable pattern called a growth curve
• The method to observe the population growth pattern:
– Place a tiny number of cells in a sterile liquid medium
– Incubate this culture over a period of several hours
– Sampling the broth at regular intervals during incubation
– Plating each sample onto solid media
– Counting the number of colonies present after incubation
– Generation or doubling time: The time required for a complete
fission cycle
– Each new fission cycle or generation increases the population by a
factor of 2
– As long as the environment is favorable, the doubling effect
continues at a constant rate
– The length of the generation time- a measure of the growth rate of
an organism
• Average generation time- 30 to 60 minutes under optimum
conditions
• Can be as short as 10 to 12 minutes
– This growth pattern is termed exponential
Data from an entire growth period typically
produce a curve with a series of phases

 Lag Phase
 Exponential Growth Phase
 Stationary Growth Phase
 Rapidly Declining Phase
 Death Phase
• Relatively “flat” period
• Newly inoculated cells require a
period of adjustment,
enlargement, and synthesis
• The cells are not yet multiplying at
their maximum rate
• The population of cells is so sparse
that the sampling misses them
• Length of lag period varies from
one population to another
 When the growth curve increases
geometrically
 Cells reach the maximum rate of
cell division
 Will continue as long as cells have
adequate nutrients and the
environment is favorable
 The number of cells growing
greatly out number the number of
cells dying.
 The population enters a survival
mode in which cells stop growing
or grow slowly
◦ The rate of cell inhibition or
death balances out the rate of
multiplication
◦ Depleted nutrients and oxygen
◦ Excretion of organic acids and
other biochemical pollutants
into the growth medium
◦ The number of cells growing will
equal the amount of cells dying.
◦ Endospores begin to form in
this phase.
 The curve dips downward
 Cells begin to die at an
exponential rate
 The amount of cells dying out
numbers the amount of cells
growing.
 The dead cells become nutrients
for the growing cells.
 The curve continues to dips
downward
 Most cellular activity stops
 Endospores are formed and
released from the parent cells.
Basic phases of growth:

1. Lag phase: new growth

medium, period of delay while
cells prepare to divide

2. Log phase (exponential growth

phase): cellular reproduction
most active during this period,
generation time reaches a
constant minimum

3. Stationary phase: state of

equilibrium where number of
cell deaths equals number of cell
divisions
Basic phases of growth:

4. Rapidly Declining Phase:

cells die logarithmically,
endospores formed

5. Death phase: number of

deaths exceeds number of
new cells
• Implications in microbial control, infection, food
microbiology, and culture technology

• Growth patterns in microorganisms can account for the

stages of infection

• Understanding the stages of cell growth is crucial for working

with cultures

• In some applications, closed batch culturing is inefficient, and

instead, must use a chemostat or continuous culture system
• The data from growing bacterial populations are graphed by
plotting the number of cells as a function of time
– If plotted logarithmically- a straight line
– If plotted arithmetically- a constantly curved slope

• To calculate thesize of a population over time: Nf = (Ni)2g

– Nf is the total number of cells in the population at some
point in the growth phase
– Ni is the starting number
– g denotes the generation number
Nf = Ni (2)g