Factors affecting the growth of

bacteria

Aprille Marie D. Lebanan, RFT

 What is bacterial growth?
• Growth of bacteria is defined as an increase in the number of bacteria in a
population rather than in the size of individual cells.
• The growth of a bacterial population occurs in a geometric or exponential
manner: with each division cycle (generation), one cell gives rise to 2 cells,
then 4 cells, then 8 cells, then 16, then 32, and so forth.
• Thus, bacterial growth is proliferation of bacterium into two daughter
cells, in a process called binary fission.
 Factors affecting bacterial growth
• Growth of bacteria is affected by many factors
such as nutrition concentration and other
environmental factors.
• Some of the important factors affecting bacterial
growth are:
• Nutrition concentration
• Temperature
• Gaseous concentration
• pH
• Ions and salt concentration
• Available water
 1. Nutrient concentration
• If culture media is rich in growth promoting substance,
growth of bacteria occurs faster. Decrease in nutrient
concentration decreases the growth rate.
• Different bacteria have different nutritional
requirement.
• The relationship between substrate concentration
(nutrition) and growth rate is shown in figure.
With increase in concentration
nutrition, growth rate of bacteria
increases up to certain level and
then growth rate remains
constant irrespective of nutrition
addition.

Figure: Nutrient vs Growth rate

 1. Nutrient concentration

• micronutrient: an element or nutrient required in small

quantities.
• macronutrients: any element or nutrient required in large
amounts.
• The common nutrients which are found to be required in all
living things include carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus,
potassium, magnesium, calcium, oxygen, iron and
additional trace elements.
• Both and macro- and micro-nutrients are critical in proper
organismal growth as they play important roles in cellular
and metabolic processes.
• The limiting nutrient is essential for growth and based on
its concentration and presence or absence can control
growth.
 2. Temperature
• Temperature affects the growth of bacteria by various ways. When temperature is
• The lowest temperature that allows the growth is called minimum increases continuously from
temperature and the highest temperature that allows growth is its minimum, growth rate of
called maximum temperature.
• There is no growth below minimum and above maximum bacteria increases because
temperature. the rate of metabolic reaction
• Below minimum temperature cell membrane solidifies and increases with increase in
become stiff to transport nutrients in to the cell, hence no growth temperature.
occurs.
• Above maximum temperature, cellular proteins and enzymes
denatures, so the bacterial growth ceases. At certain temperature the
• The relationship between temperature and growth rate is growth rate become
shown maximum, this temperature
in figure below.
is known as optimal
temperature.

On further increasing the

temperature above optimal,
growth rate decreases
abruptly and completely
ceases with reaching
maximum temperature.
 2. Temperature
• Increase in temperature will
increase enzyme activity. But if Organisms can be classified according
temperatures get too high, to their optimum growth
enzyme activity will diminish temperature.:
and the protein (the enzyme)
will denature. PSYCHROPHILES grow best between
• Lowering temperature will 0oC and 20oC,
decrease enzyme activity. MESOPHILES grow best between 20oC
• At freezing temperatures and 45oC and
enzyme activity can stop.
• Repeated cycles of freezing and THERMOPHILES grow best at
thawing can denature proteins. temperatures above 45oC.
In addition, freezing causes
water to expand and also forms
ice crystals, hence cells begin
to rupture.
 3. pH
• pH affects the ionic properties of bacterial cell so it affects
the growth of bacteria.
• Most of the bacteria grow at neutral pH (6.5-7.5). However
there are certain bacteria that grow best at acidic or basic
pH.
• Relationship between pH and bacterial growth is given in
figure below.

Neutrophiles- neutral pH values (6.5 - 7.0),

eg- Escherichia coli, staphylococci,
and Salmonella spp.
Acidophilus- grow optimally at
pH less than
5.55 Eg. Sulfolobus spp.
Alkaliphiles- grow best at pH
between 8.0
and 10.5. Vibrio cholerae, Figure: pH vs Growth rate
 3. pH

• Microbes, such as bacteria are sensitive to the

hydrogen ion concentration they find in their
environment.
• Large proteins, such as enzymes, are affected by
pH.
• Their shape changes (they denature) and the very
often brings about an alteration of the ionic
charges on the molecule.
• Usually, the catalytic properties of the enzymes
are lost and metabolism is halted.
 4. Ions and salt

• All bacteria requires metal ions such as K+, Ca

++, Mg++, Fe++, Zn++, Cu++,Mn++ etc to
synthesize enzymes and proteins.
• Most bacteria do not require NaCl in media
however they can tolerate very low
concentration of salt.
• There is some halophilic bacteria such
as Archeobacteria that require high
concentration of salt in media.
 4. Ions and salt
• Osmosis provides the primary means by which water is transported
into and out of cells.
• Osmoregulation is the homeostasis mechanism of an organism to
reach balance in osmotic pressure.
• If the medium is hypotonic, the cells will gain water through
osmosis.
• If the medium is hypertonic, the cells will lose water through
osmosis.
 4. Ions and salt
• Salt kills some types of bacteria, effectively by sucking
water out of them.
• In a process known as osmosis, water passes out of a
bacterium so as to balance salt concentrations on each side
of its cell membrane.
• Without water, bacterial proteins such as enzymes cannot
function and eventually the cell collapses in on itself.
• Some bacteria can tolerate salt; they are halotolerant.
• Certain strains of Staphylococcus, responsible for
infections, blood poisoning, and even death, are
halotolerant.
• These pathogens have a salt alert system that uses sponge-
like molecules to prevent water loss.
 5. Gaseous requirement

• Oxygen and carbon-dioxide are important gases

that affects the growth of bacteria.
• Oxygen is required for aerobic respiration and
obligate aerobic bacteria must require O2 for
growth. Eg. Mycobacterium, Bacillus
• For obligate anaerobes - Oxygen is harmful or
sometime lethal. However facultative anaerobes
can tolerate low concentration of O2.
• Carbon-dioxide is needed for capnophilic
bacteria. Such as Campylobacter, Helicobacter
pylori
5. Gaseous requirement
• OBLIGATE AEROBES rely on aerobic respiration for ATP and they therefore
use oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor in the electron transport
chain. Eg- Pseudomonas
• MICROAEROPHILES require O2 for growth but they are damaged by
normal atmospheric levels of oxygen and they don't have efficient ways to
neutralize the toxic forms of oxygen such as superoxide (O2-) and hydrogen
peroxide (H2O2). Eg- Streptococci
• OBLIGATE ANAEROBES will die in the presence of oxygen because they
lack enzymes like superoxide dismutase and catalase. Superoxide
dismutase catalyzes the following reaction:
• 2O - + 2H+ ----> H O + O and catalase catalyzes:
2 2 2 2
• 2H2O2 ---> 2H2O + O2
• Eg- Clostridium
• AEROTOLERANT organisms like Lactobacillus ferment and therefore do
not
use oxygen, however they do tolerate it.
• FACULTATIVE ANAEROBES are capable of both fermentation and aerobic
respiration. Eg- Escherichia coli
 6. Available water

• Water is the most essential factor for bacterial

growth.
• Available water in the culture media
determines the rate of metabolic and
physiological activities of bacteria.
• Sugar, salts and other substances are dissolved
in water and are made available for bacteria.