Quantitative Aspects of Growth and Metabolism of Microorganisms

Application of recent advances, such as non-equilibrium thermodynamics, the maintenance concept and the material balancing method, to the description, of microbial growth has suggested new experimental approaches which have yielded a wealth of data. These data have been used to develop mathematical models of microbial growth and metabolism, and the models have made it possible to direct the metabolism of a microorganism in such a way that more of a certain desired product is made.
While a full quantitative description of all aspects of microbial growth and metabolism is till remote, the new approaches are opening up large areas of new potential -- it is now possible, for instance, to deal with individual cells in a population and with quantitative aspects of product formation and optimisation. Microbiologists, biochemists and physiologists will find this an invaluable update on a field of great promise.

Editorial.- Quantitation of microbial metabolism.- Quantifying heterogeneity: flow cytometry of bacterial cultures.- Microbial growth dynamics on the basis of individual budgets.- Quantitative aspects of cellular turnover.- Quantitative approaches to the analysis of the control and regulation of microbial metabolism.- Quantification of control of microbial metabolism by substrates and enzymes.- On multiple-nutrient-limited growth of microorganisms, with special reference to dual limitation by carbon and nitrogen substrates.- A new thermodynamically based correlation of chemotrophic biomass yields.- The use of stoichiometric relations for the description and analysis of microbial cultures.- Application of a metabolic balancing technique to the analysis of microbial fermentation data.- Metabolite production and growth efficiency.- Determination of the maximum product yield from glucoamylase-producing Aspergillus niger grown in the recycling fermentor.- Physiology of yeasts in relation to biomass yields.- Formation of fermentation products and extracellular protease during anaerobic growth of Bacillus licheniformis in chemostat and batch-culture.- Quantitative aspects of glucose metabolism by Escherichia coli B/r, grown in the presence of pyrroloquinoline quinone.