Microcalorimetric studies on thermochemical characteristics of Escherichiacoli NCTC 10418 aerobic growth metabolism in basic media

By using an LKB-2277 bioactivity monitor, cycle-flow mode, the thermogenic curve of metabolism of Escherichia cell NCTC 10418 growth at 37 degreesC in basic media was determined. The experimental results indicate that the rel ationship between cell concentration and power output can be characterized by the equations: C = k 'P + a dC/dP(0) = KCn, n = 1 where P is the power output (muW), C is cell concentration (mg/mL), Po is t he power output produced by the metabolism of one unit of cell (P-0 = P/0.6 C), the order of metabolism a is 1, and k ', a and K are constants which de pend on the culture condition and phylogenic state of the cells. These equa tions are different from those of the non-growth metabolism,of resting cell s and endogenous metabolism of cells. For different kinds of metabolism of cells, the order of metabolism, n, is different. For endogenous metabolism, it = 0, for growth metabolism, n = 1, and for non-growth metabolism of res ting cells, n = 2. The equations are general thermochemical equations for t he various different kinds of metabolism of cells.