Summary
An equation expressing the specific growth rate of heterotrophic cell populations in terms of yield factor and transport rate is proposed. From this equation expressions are derived for the specific growth rate when the transport of the energy source is growth0limiting. These expressions are applied to cell population growth in the chemostat limited by the transport of the energy source or of other substrates and simple mathematical tools are provided for obtaining estimates of the transport parameters. An equation is derived which predicts that at constant dilution rate in the chemostat the concentration of any substrate (whether or not the source of energy) the transport of which is growth limiting, is a linear function of the concentration of a competitive inhibitor of its transport. With this equation estimates of the Michaelis constants of competitive transport inhibitors can be obtained. The growth rate equation of Monod (1942) is discussed.
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van Uden, N. Transport-limited growth in the chemostat and its competitive inhibition; A theoretical treatment. Archiv. Mikrobiol. 58, 145–154 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406675
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406675