Bacterial population dynamics in batch and continuous-flow microbial reactors

Calculations of the distribution of states in cell populations grown in well-mixed, isothermal batch and continuous flow reactors are presented. By restricting the analysis to a class of bacteria for which cell division control may be modeled using overlapping timers, analytical results are obtained for many cell population characteristics in terms of the growth rate history. This required growth rate trajectory is evaluated using a separate overall reactor model. The simulation results conform qualitatively to available experimental data and suggest new experiments for further testing of the single-cell model.