Abstract
Escherichia coli strains B5 and B/r/1 were grown under conditions of periodic glucose starvation in a minimal medium. Such conditions of growth give rise to two synchronous populations that are out of phase regarding their time of division, one dividing shortly after a new supply of fresh medium and the other at a later stage of the feeding cycle. Preferential selection of one of the two populations using heat treatment resulted in a homogeneous synchronized culture that exhibited in a non-limiting medium a high degree of synchrony that was long lasting. Synchrony and its persistence could survive preservation of such a synchronized culture by freeze drying. An explanation of the synchrony persistence was put forward and the practical implications of these findings were discussed.
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Anagnostopoulos, G.D. Induction and stabilization of synchrony in the cell division of Escherichia coli . Arch. Microbiol. 107, 199–203 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446840
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446840