Semicontinuous Culture Methods

Abstract

Semicontinuous cultures, herein referred to as SCs, are specialized forms of two-stage cultures, discussed in Chapter 2.2. SCs have been applied in zooplankton and microbial studies in a considerable variety of physical configurations, including both open and partially closed systems. Here, I will be primarily concerned with animal cultures. Open designs include those where a volume of the culture, including both residual food and animals, is replaced periodically with a fresh food suspension. This design approximates a chemostat culture both in theory and in operation. The methods for SCs in this more restricted sense are described in Chapter 2.1.4. The SC enters a fluctuating steady state or quasi-steady state. The degree of approximation to a chemostat increases as the frequency of dilution events increases.