Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Bacterial Growth Curve

Bacterial Growth Curve

The bacterial growth curve is a fundamental concept in microbiology that describes the dynamics of bacterial population growth in a closed system with controlled environmental conditions, such as temperature and nutrient availability. This curve is divided into four distinct phases: lag, log (exponential), stationary, and death phases, each reflecting a unique stage of bacterial adaptation and growth. During the lag phase, bacteria acclimate to their surroundings by synthesizing essential...

Exponential Growth

Exponential Growth

Bacterial populations exhibit exponential growth when conditions such as nutrient availability and temperature are favorable. In this phase, cells reproduce through binary fission, where each cell divides into two identical daughter cells. This process causes the population to double at regular intervals, resulting in a growth rate that is directly proportional to the current number of cells. As the population increases, the number of new cells formed during each generation also grows, creating...

Microbial Growth Measurement: Indirect Methods

Microbial Growth Measurement: Indirect Methods

Estimating microbial growth is essential for understanding population dynamics and environmental adaptations. Indirect methods provide valuable insights by measuring parameters such as turbidity, metabolic activity, and biomass, enabling efficient and reproducible assessments.During exponential growth, microbial cells scatter light proportionally to their biomass, a principle used in turbidity measurements. About one million cells per milliliter produce detectable scattering, which a...

Exponential Equations for Modeling Growth

Exponential Equations for Modeling Growth

Exponential models are essential for describing rapid, multiplicative changes in natural systems, such as population growth. When a population doubles at regular intervals, the process can be modeled using a suitable base. For instance, a bacterial culture that doubles every three hours follows the model n(t)=n0⋅2t/3, where n(t) is the population at the time t.A more general model uses the natural base e, especially for continuous growth. This takes the form n(t)=n0⋅ert, where r is the relative...

Microbial Growth Measurement: Direct Methods

Microbial Growth Measurement: Direct Methods

Direct methods for measuring microbial populations in a culture are essential tools in microbiology, providing quantitative data for various applications. Among these, microscopic counts, plate counts, and serial dilution are widely used techniques, each with unique principles and applications.Microscopic CountsMicroscopic counting involves the use of a Petroff-Hausser chamber, a specialized microscope slide with a grid and defined depth. By observing a liquid culture under a microscope,...

Population Growth

Population Growth

Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.However, realistic environmental conditions limit the number of...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Conceptualising Climate Violence: A Systematic Scoping Review.

Trauma, violence & abuse·2026

Same author

Single-cell heterogeneity in ribosome levels and protein synthesis during nutrient starvation is driven by cAMP signaling.

Science advances·2026

Same author

Machine learning-assisted gait analysis for lameness detection in heterogeneous dog populations.

Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2026

Same author

Biologics vs endoscopic surgery in the management of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

Annals of allergy, asthma & immunology : official publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology·2026

Same author

Sex-specific trends in incident stroke: The Framingham Heart Study.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2026

Same author

Minimizing co-growth as a broad predictor of community robustness.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Precise, High-throughput Analysis of Bacterial Growth

Precise, High-throughput Analysis of Bacterial Growth

Published on: September 19, 2017

Bacterial growth laws and their applications.

Matthew Scott¹, Terence Hwa

¹Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada. mscott@math.uwaterloo.ca

Current Opinion in Biotechnology

|May 20, 2011

Summary

This review explores bacterial growth laws, linking cell composition to growth rate. These quantitative approaches reveal design principles for predicting and manipulating cell behavior without deep molecular knowledge.

More Related Videos

Multi-scale Analysis of Bacterial Growth Under Stress Treatments

Multi-scale Analysis of Bacterial Growth Under Stress Treatments

Published on: November 28, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Precise, High-throughput Analysis of Bacterial Growth

Precise, High-throughput Analysis of Bacterial Growth

Published on: September 19, 2017

Multi-scale Analysis of Bacterial Growth Under Stress Treatments

Multi-scale Analysis of Bacterial Growth Under Stress Treatments

Published on: November 28, 2019

Area of Science:

Microbiology
Systems Biology
Biotechnology

Background:

Early microbiology focused on cell composition and growth rate relationships.
The field shifted towards molecular mechanisms but now sees renewed interest in whole-cell physiology.
Gene expression is closely linked to the cell's growth state.

Purpose of the Study:

To review recent quantitative phenomenological approaches characterizing the coupling between cell composition and growth.
To highlight the utility of bacterial 'growth laws' in understanding cell physiology.
To discuss how these laws can guide predictive manipulation of cell behavior.

Main Methods:

Review of quantitative phenomenological approaches.
Analysis of empirical relationships between cell composition and growth rate.
Exploitation of bacterial 'growth laws'.

Main Results:

Quantitative relationships between cell composition and growth rate are crucial for understanding bacterial physiology.
Bacterial growth laws offer insights into underlying cellular design principles.
These laws facilitate the prediction and manipulation of cell behavior.

Conclusions:

Recent advances in systems biology and biotechnology have revitalized interest in cell physiology.
Quantitative phenomenological approaches, like bacterial growth laws, are valuable tools.
Understanding growth laws can lead to the predictive manipulation of microbial cell behavior.