EFFECT OF EXTERNAL PH ON YIELD, MORPHOLOGY AND CELL COMPONENTS OF CANDIDA-UTILIS GROWING IN CONTINUOUS-CULTURE

The physiological state of Candida utilis growing in continuous cultur e was controlled by external pH and dilution rate. The pH of the mediu m influences the physiological mechanisms coupled with the maintenance of living functions. The consumption of nitrogen source for biomass f ormation is a linear function of growth rate, independent of external pH. The statistical distribution of cell volumes was identified as log -normal where the dispersion is indirectly proportional to the mainten ance coefficient and the mean of the logarithm of cell volume is a lin ear combination of specific growth rate and maintenance coefficient. T he content of RNA, protein, glucan and mannan in dry biomass may also be expressed as a simple function of specific growth rate and maintena nce coefficient.