ABSTRACT
In the present report we present a new and very sensitive measure of bacterial growth in which changes may be observed both rapidly and with high sensitivity. The new method has been used to demonstrate rapidly observable changes after nutritional shifts in a bacterial growth medium,3 heat treatment,4 ultraviolet (UV) exposure, and germination of spores.5 The changes
we are discussing are shifts in the graph of a particular angular function obtained from polarized light scattering. In an example to be discussed later in this chapter, a nutritional upshift of growth medium for Escherichia coli cells causes changes in the graph that indicate a rapid increase of diameter for these cells. This experiment is given as an example producing a measure that can be used to show the presence of toxicants.
