Reference no: EM133360709

You have a super yeast strain that has a maximum growth rate rmax= 3 day-1 when grown under conditions of unlimited resources. You are interested in understanding the growth regulation of this strain under limiting concentrations of glucose, so you set up a chemostat. The volume of the culture is 1000 ml, and the glucose concentration in the media that you are pumping into the vessel is 50 mmoles ml-1. You set the pump on the culture such that the flow rate in and out is 1500 ml day-1 and watch the culture for a few days until it settles down at a steady state concentration of 1000 cells per ml. The concentration of glucose in the culture vessel is 1 mmole ml-1 at this steady state.

1. What is the growth rate of the cells in the vessel at this steady state?

2. Suppose you double the concentration of glucose in the medium going into the vessel from 50 to 100 mmoles ml-1 but keep everything else the same and allow the vessel to reach a new steady state. What will change? How much?

3. Suppose you want to cut the growth rate of the cells in the vessel by 1/3. How would you accomplish this? Would anything else change in the vessel?