Determining the Continuous Growth of Bacillus subtilis

by Lance Ehl

Submitted : Spring 2021

The bacteria Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), alongside Escherichia coli (E. Coli), is often used as an archetype of bacterial study due to its ideal cell size, steady state growth, and rapid generational turnover (Heerden et al., 2017). In order to assess the number of individuals in a colony, bacterial cells are place in a nourishing solution and allowed to propagate. As the solution becomes more populace, its opacity increases. Population is then measured through the solution’s absorbance spectrum. Using data from Bonn and Freiburg, and calculations derived from standard continuous growth model, the continuous growth rate of B. subtilis was determined to be 3.6% a minute, with a doubling time of 19.25 minutes.

[ Back ]