Bacterial Growth Curve and its significances

Dr.Vijaya kumar Gampa

Professor & Principal
Dept. of Microbiology .
CVM COLLEGE OF PHARMAC!"AR#M$AGAR
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Bacterial growth curve:
If a small number of bacteria are inoculated into a medium and the number of
bacteria is counted with some intervals, and a graphical representation is produced
by putting number of cells along Y-axis and time along with X-axis, then it is known
as bacterial growth curve.
Or,
hen a fresh medium is inoculated with a given number of cells, and the population
growth is monitored over a period of time, plotting the data will yield a typical
bacterial growth curve
Phases of bacterial growth curve:
!our "#$ phases%
&. 'ag phase or preparatory phase or phase of ad(ustment
). 'og phase or exponential growth phase
*. +tationary phase
4. ,ecline or death phase or lysis
'ag phase%
-ransfers of bacteria from one medium to another, where there exist chemical
differences between the two media, typically results in a lag in cell division. -his is
the time or period re.uired for the inoculated bacteria to be ad(usted in a new
environment "temp, p/, nutrients etc.$.
Criteria:
- -he cells may be growing in volume or mass
- +tarts synthesi0ing en0ymes, proteins, 123, etc.
- 1epairing of the damages parts of the bacterial cell.
- 4etabolic activity increases.
- 2o appreciable multiplication of bacteria occurs.
- Required time: &-# hrs.
N.B. -he length of the lag phase is apparently dependent on a wide variety of factors
including%
&. -he si0e of the inoculum
). -ime necessary to recover from physical damage or shock in the transfer
*. -ime re.uired for synthesis of essential coen0ymes or division factors and
#. -ime re.uired for synthesis of new "inducible$ en0ymes that are necessary to
metaboli0e the substrates present in the medium
Importance of lag phase:
- 4embrane acting antibiotic "such as polymyxin, amphotericin-5 etc.$ can be
used in this phase.
- ,etergents, soaps and other surface acting agents may also be used.
'og phase%
Once the metabolic machinery is running, by binary fission they start multiplying
exponentially, doubling in number every few minutes.
Criteria:
- 1apid multiplication and increase of cell numbers occur by geometrically i.e.
exponentially. -hus, the phase is also called exponential growth phase.
o 6xponential % )
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etc.
o 2o. of cells % & ) # ; &9 *) 9# &); etc.
- 3ctive synthesis of cell wall occurs.
- 4etabolic activity increases at a very high rate.
- Time required: &-# hrs.
Importance:
- 3ntibiotics acts better at this phase as cell wall growth is very active during
this phase.
- 3t this phase disease producing capability of bacteria is highest and if not
treated the disease properly, it may turns to septicemia.
+tationary phase%
In this phase, some bacteria begin to die, some still continue to multiply. +o,
booming growth stops and the number of bacteria stabili0es. 5acteria that produce
secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics, do so during the stationary phase of the
growth cycle "+econdary metabolites are defined as metabolites produced after the
active stage of growth$.
Criteria:
- -he net increase in number of cells is 0ero.
- -he causes of cell death are%
o -oxic waste products build up.
o ,ecrease of biological space re.uired for the bacteria.
o ,ecrease of nutrients in the media.
- 6xotoxin production starts.
- Time required% few hours to few days.
Importance:
- 1elease of exotoxin starts.
- +pore forming bacteria start formation of spore.
- <ell wall acting antibiotic may be used to destroy the cell.
- =ram positive bacteria may transform to gram negative one by erosion of
peptideglycan layer.
,ecline or death phase or lysis%
In this phase, the total viable cells decrease rapidly in comparison to the few
multiplication.
Criteria:
- -he death rate is greater than the multiplication rate.
- 3ccumulation of significant amount of toxic metabolites occurs.
Importance:
- +porulation starts of some bacteria.
- 6xotoxin of Cl. diphtheriae is produced in this phase.
!ig% 5acterial growth curve
The number of cells can be measured by optical density (!"
The Optical Density of Bacterial Culture
-he optical density of a bacterial culture is a measurement used by microbiologists to
determine the amount of bacterial cells present in a li.uid culture. Optical density is
the amount of light that is able to pass through a li.uid culture. -he more bacterial
cells in a culture, the denser the culture. -his means that less light is able to pass
through the sample and the culture is considered to be cloudy to the naked eye.
Spectrophotometer
3 spectrophotometer or +pect )7 is an instrument that measures the amount of light
that is able to pass through a bacterial culture. It shines a constant beam of light on
the sample that is being tested. If the light hits the bacterial cell, then it will bend
and bounce off of the cell. -he more cloudy a culture is, the more bacterial cells are
present within the culture allowing less light to penetrate through and more light is
bounced back to the register within the +pect )7. -his will register as a higher value
on the machine.