Multiple Choice
Which phase of the microbial growth curve would an obligate anaerobe most likely exhibit when grown in the presence of oxygen in a closed system?
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10. Dynamics of Microbial Growth
Microbial Growth Curves in a Closed System
Multiple Choice
In a closed system, how many generations are required for a single bacterial cell to produce a population of 256 cells, assuming each generation results in a doubling of cell number?
A
8
B
16
C
128
D
256
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that each generation results in a doubling of the bacterial population. This means the population size after n generations can be expressed as \(N = N_0 \times 2^n\), where \(N_0\) is the initial number of cells and \(n\) is the number of generations.
Identify the initial population size \(N_0\). In this problem, it is given as a single bacterial cell, so \(N_0 = 1\).
Set the final population size \(N\) to 256 cells, as given in the problem.
Use the formula \(N = N_0 \times 2^n\) and substitute the known values: \(256 = 1 \times 2^n\), which simplifies to \$256 = 2^n$.
Solve for \(n\) by taking the logarithm base 2 of both sides: \(n = \log_2(256)\). This will give the number of generations required to reach 256 cells.
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