ABSTRACT
Growth of microbial cells is the result of many chemical reactions, including fueling reactions, biosynthetic reactions, and assembly reactions (see Figure 2.3). In preparation for cell division, the cells increase in size (or extend their hyphae, in the case of lamentous microorganisms) as the macromolecules are assembled en route to biomass formation. Biomass formation can be quantied by measuring the increase in dry weight (see Box 3.1), RNA, DNA, and/or proteins. In situ measurements of biomass formation during the course of fermentation can also be monitored by following the increase in turbidity at a given wavelength, as illustrated by Olsson and Nielsen (1997).
