Bacterial Population Growth Flashcards
Bacterial cell cycle/division
Understanding the bacterial growth curve is critical to control and prevention
Infectious disease caused by bacteria
Food spoilage
Pharmaceutical spoilage
Environmental microbial contamination
Step by step cell division:
- Cell elongates, enlarging its volume and DNA is replicated.
- Cell wall and plasma membrane begin to constrict
- Cross-wall forms, completely separating the two DNA copies
- Cell separate
What’s the purpose of cell division?
Increase in number of cells, not cell size
Procaryotes reproduce by Binary fission
Cell growth
4 Phases of bacterial population growth:
1) Lag phase
2) Log phase (or exponential)
3) Stationary phase
4) Death phase
1) Lag phase
Little or no cell division occurs
Intense metabolic activity. Individual cells increase in size
2) Log phase (or exponential)
Rapid and constant population growth (exponential manner)
Number of cells produced > Number of cells dying
3) Stationary phase
Population size begins to stabilize
Number of cells produced = Number of cells dying
- Death phase
Population size begins to decrease
Number of cells produced < Number of cells dying
What is the generation time of a cell cycle?
E. coli divides every 20 minutes.
Most bacteria divide every 1 to 3 hours.
Some bacteria (M. tubercolosis) require over 24 hours to divide.
Binary fission ______ the number of cells each generation
doubles
Biofilms - Bacteria population can grow in particular communities
Microbial communities
Form slime or hydrogels that adhere to surfaces
What does Biofilms do?
Bacteria communicate cell-to-cell
Share nutrients
Shelter bacteria from harmful environmental factors or microbicides
Where are Biofilms found?
ubiquitous in nature
found in the digestive system, dental plaqueand involved in infections. Also found in sewage treatment systems
What happens to a the number of cells?
Total number of cells = N0 x 2number of generations
where N0 is the initial cell number
x is generation
What are the The Requirements for bacterial growth?
Physical
- temp
- pH
-osmotic pressure
Chemical
- organic growth factors
- carbon source
- oxygen
- Ions, Trace, elements
- Nitrogen, sulphur and phosphate
Effects of temperature on Physical growth;
Each bacteria =
- Minimum growth temperature
- Optimum growth temperature
- Maximum growth temperature
Optimum growth temperature
Psychrophiles - “Cold-loving” (<15C)
Psychrotrophs - (20-30C)
Mesophiles - “Middle loving” (25-40oC)
Thermophiles - “Heat-loving” (50-60oC)
Hyperthermophiles - (>80oC)
How to regulate Preservation temperature?
Control of temp is ESSENTIAL for the storage of pharmaceutical products and food
pH - requirements for growth:
Most bacteria (neutrophiles) grow between pH 6.5 and 7.5
Some bacteria (acidophiles) grow in acidic environments (pH 0-5)
Rare bacteria (alkalophiles) prefer the pH range of 8.0 to 11.5
Acidic or Basic - microbial growth
Acidity inhibits most microbial growth > used for food preservation (e.g.: pickling)
Alkalinity (pH>8) inhibits microbial growth (not used for food preservation)
Osmotic pressure - physical requirements for growth
bacteria = similar reqs to human cells
Hypertonic environments (higher in solutes than inside the cell) cause plasmolysis due to high osmotic pressure (water moves from inside to outside)
Chemical reqs = Carbon
Structural backbone of all organic compounds
Obtained from organic molecules (Chemotrophs) or CO2 (Photoautotrophs)
Chemical reqs = Nitrogen, Sulfur, and Phosphorus
N > to form amino acids, DNA, and RNA
S > to form proteins and some vitamins (thiamin and biotin)
P > to form DNA, RNA, ATP, and phospholipids
Chemical reqs = Trace elements
(Fe, Cu, Zn in small amounts) used as enzyme cofactors
Chemical reqs = Organic growth factors
to form vitamins, amino acids, nitrogenous bases