Microbial growth and physiology

Abstract

The basics of microbial cultivation techniques (batch, fed-batch, continuous culture), growth kinetics and their intimate link with microbial cell composition and physiology will be covered.

Objective

The basics of microbial cultivation techniques, growth kinetics and their intimate link with microbial cell composition and physiology will be covered. The course will use the cultivation of E. coli in both batch and continuous culture in simple bioreactors to experience and explore the dynamics of microbial growth. In these systems biomass formation and cellular composition will be analyzed and quantified. The student will experience effects of growth rate and limiting nutrients on the performance of microbial cells. Using e-learning, an easy approach to kinetics, quantitative treatment and simple modelling of microbial growth will be offered.

Content

Growth kinetics, methods for quantifying growth, medium analysis and design, batch culture, fed-batch, continuous culture, limitation of growth, effect of limiting nutrients (carbon/energy, nitrogen, phosphorous) on cell composition and physiology, use of cultivation techniques for defined investigation of microbial physiology, basic applications of kinetics in biotechnology and microbial ecology, microbial competition, combining classic microbial growth physiology with modern molecular technologies. Lectures on growth kinetics will be supported with e-learning where the effect of kinetic constants on the growth behaviour of microbial cultures can be visualized.

Resources