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Transient Responses of Facultatively Anaerobic Bacteria Growing in Chemostat Culture to a Change from Anaerobic to Aerobic Conditions
Abstract
SUMMARY: During the transition between anaerobic growth and aerobic growth conditions, in chemostat cultures of Klebsiella aerogenes, the yield coefficients from glucose and oxygen were lower than that of the aerobic steady-state. Both the potential and in situ respiration rates reached a maximum from 2 to 8 h. after reaeration of the culture. There appears to have been a loss of the tight coupling between growth and energy conserving processes. In the case of a culture grown anaerobically for only 4·5 h. which was incompletely adapted to anaerobic growth, there was no initial lag before an increase in Q 02 as was obtained with cultures grown anaerobically for 18·74 h. but the time required for complete adaptation to aerobic growth was the same, 8 h. Escherichia coli behaved similarly to K. aerogenes. When an aerobic culture was made anaerobic it took 14I1. for the CO2 production to attain a steady state.
- Accepted:
- Published Online:
© Society for General Microbiology 1971