BACHELOR OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES

BASIC MICROBIOLOGY
BMC 123
BASIC MICROBIOLOGY-2

CHAPTER 6:GROWTH , SURVIVAL AND

DEATH OF BACTERIA
 Learning Out Comes
After the lecture the students are able to :
• explain Growth curve
• describe the various factors that affect th
e bacterial growth
• discuss the different methods in bacterial c
ounting

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 Growth of Bacteria

Goals for Chapter

How do we measure cell growth?
What are the stages of cell growth?

What is happening in cells during cell growth?

What are the effects of environmental conditions

on cell growth?

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 Cell division
What is happening?

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Binary Fission

Note nascent septum forming

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Planes of Division (1/3)

Diplococcus

Streptococcus
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Planes of Division (2/3)

Tetrad

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Sarcinae
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Planes of Division (3/3)

Staphylococcus

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 Multiplication in bacteria : Binary
Fission

Generation Time: (Doubling Time):

• Time required for a cell to divide into two
daughter cells
• Most of the cases average time is about 1
Hr. To 3 Hrs.
a)E. coli - 20 minutes
b) Mycobacterium tuberculosis - 24 hr

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 Bacterial Cell Division

1. Replication of
chromosome

2. Cell wall extension

3. Septum formation

4. Membrane attachment
of DNA pulls into a
new cell.

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 Generation times for some common bacteria under optimal
conditions of growth.
Medium
Bacterium Generation Time (minutes)

Glucose-salts
Escherichia coli 17
Sucrose-salts
Bacillus  megaterium 25
Milk
Streptococcus lactis 26
Streptococcus lactis Lactose broth
48
Staphylococcus aureus Heart infusion broth
27-30
Milk
Lactobacillus acidophilus
66-87
Mannitol-salts-yeast ext.
Rhizobium japonicum
344-461
Mycobacterium tuberculosis Synthetic
792-932
Treponema pallidum Rabbit testesBIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF MEDICINE
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1980
 Binary Fission - unchecked
• E. coli - generation time of 20 min.
• 20 generations (about 7 hrs.)
– 1 million cells
• 30 generations ( about 10 hrs.)
– 1 billion cells
• 72 generations ( about 24 hrs.)
– 1 x 1021
• 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 cells

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 Growth curve

Graphic representation of rate of

multiplication of cells plotted against time

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When bacteria are cultivated in liquid medium, in
a closed system and bacterial counts are made at
regular intervals and plotted in relation to time,
a growth curve is obtained.

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 PHASES OF GROWTH CURVE

• Has four distinct phases:

– Lag Phase
– Log Phase/ Logarithmic Phase/ Exponential
Phase
– Stationary Phase
– Death /decline phase
– Death Phase/ Phase of Decline

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09/11/23 BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF MEDICINE0
LAG PAHSE

• During lag phase, the organisms try to

adjust to the new environment.
• Builds up an internal supply of
metabolites, ribosomes, ATP, enzymes and
coenzymes.
• Depends on amount of inoculum, nature
of medium, & environmental factors like
pH, temperature.
• Grows max size towards end of lag phase.

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 STATIONARY PHASE

• During Stationary phase, Nutrients begin to disapp

ear and balance between cell growth, division and
cell death occurs.
• Curve becomes horizontal or plateau.
• Accumulation of toxic metabolites occurs.
• Cells are gram variable showing intracellular storag
e granules, Sporulation occurs.
• Some produce secondary metabolites like Exotoxin
s and antibiotics.

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 LOG PHASE

• In Log phase, the cells grow at a constant rate,

start dividing by binary fission and their
numbers increase exponentially or by geometric
progression.
• Linear relationship is maintained between time
and logarithm of no of cells
• Cells are smaller in size, young , actively
multiplying and metabolic activity is at its peak .

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 • cells begin to encounter environmental
stress
– lack of nutrients
– lack of water
– not enough space
– metabolic wastes
– oxygen
– pH

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 DEATH PHASE

• In Death Phase, cell death occurs

logarithmically.
• Involution forms are common.

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 Bacterial Growth requirements

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 Microbial Growth - refers to the number
of cells, not the size of the cells

• Requirements for Growth

– Physical
– Chemical

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 Physical Requirements
• Temperature
– psychrophiles (cold loving microbes )
• range 0 C - 20 C
– mesophiles (moderate temp. loving
microbes)
• range 20 C - 40 C
– thermophiles (heat loving microbes)
• range 40 C - 100 C

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09/11/23 BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF MEDICINE
09/11/23 BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF MEDICINE Figure 6.2
 Carbon Dioxide
• bacteria require small amount of carbon
dioxide for growth .
• Carbon dioxide loving bacteria is called -
capnophilic bacteria

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 Moisture & drying
• Water is essential part of bacterial
protoplasm so drying is lethal to cells

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 Light
• Bacteria grow well in dark .
• Sensitive to UV light & other radiations
• Cultures die when exposed to sunlight
• Exposure to light influence pigment
production.

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 pH
• Most bacteria grow between pH 6.5 - pH 7.5

• Very few can grow at below pH 4.0

– many foods, such as pickles, and cheeses
are preserved from spoilage by acids
produced during fermentation

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 Osmotic Pressure
• Microbes obtain almost all their nutrients in
solution from surrounding water

• Tonicity
– isotonic
– hypertonic
– hypotonic

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 Oxygen
• Bacteria can be classified base on their oxygen
requirements

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 Limiting factors in the environment

• Lack of food, water or nutrients

• space
• accumulation of metabolic wastes
• lack of oxygen
• changes in pH
• temperature

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 Enumeration of Bacteria
• Turbid culture - 10 million bacterial cells per ml

• Serial Dilution

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 What can we measure to determine if growth is occurring?

Cell number

Direct methods Indirect methods

Microscopy Culture density
Viable cell count Dry cell weight

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 Microscopy measures dead and live cells
Petroff- Hauser counter Direct method

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 Measure Colony Forming Units CFU’s
Viable cell counts

Does each colony represent one cell?

Cell must be alive and able to grow
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Dilution plating Count between 30 and 300 colonies
Why is this necessary?

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 Measuring cell turbidity
Spectrophotometer

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REFERENCES
• Tortora JG, Funke BR & Case CL 2014, Microbiology:
An Introduction (12th edition). Los Angeles:
Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co.
•  Joanne.M.Willey,Linda.M.Sherwood,
Christopher.J.Woolverton; 2010; Prescott, Harley and
Klen’s Microbiology(8th Edn.); McGrawHill.
•  Geo F Brooks, Karen C Caroll, et al., 2010;
Jawetz, Helnick and Adelberg’s Medical Microbiology
(25th Edn.);McGrawHill.
•  Greenwood & Slack & Barer & Irving, 2012,
Medical Microbiology (18th Edn.); Churchill
Livingstone/Elservier.

44OF MEDICINE
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 Even the word 'IMPOSSIBLE'
says
'I M POSSIBLE' "

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