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On the Distinction Between Lag and Delay in Population Growth

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

The analysis and results presented in this paper provide conclusive evidence to distinguish between the delay effect and the lag as two biologically distinct phenomena. It therefore dispels the incorrect notion that delay effects represented by delay differential equations are the biological reason behind the lag phase in microorganism growth. The resulting consequence so far is that the only other reason for the lag phase is the existence of unstable stationary states. The latter are a result of accounting for the microbial metabolic mass transfer in the population growth process.

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Acknowledgments

One of the authors (PV) is grateful and sincerely expresses his gratitude to Professor Peter Chesson from University of Arizona for an insightful discussion on the topic.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CTS-0500466. The authors wish to thank the NSF for the funding support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 15600, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011-5600, USA

    Peter Vadasz & Alisa S. Vadasz

  2. Faculty of Engineering, University of KZ Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Peter Vadasz & Alisa S. Vadasz

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  1. Peter Vadasz
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  2. Alisa S. Vadasz
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Correspondence to Peter Vadasz.

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Vadasz, P., Vadasz, A.S. On the Distinction Between Lag and Delay in Population Growth. Microb Ecol 59, 233–245 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-009-9592-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-009-9592-y

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