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Bacteria, Viruses, and Protists

Bacteria Basics

What is the generation time for various bacteria?

Generation time is defined as the amount of time required for a bacterial population to double its number. For example, if a culture tube is inoculated with a cell that divides every twenty minutes (at an optimum temperature), the total cell population will grow to two cells after a period of twenty minutes, and four cells after forty minutes, and so on, with the growth continuing at this rate.

The following chart shows the generation time for selected bacteria (with corresponding genus/species, common name, and temperature range for the generation time):

Bacterium

Temperature (°F/°C)

Generation time (in minutes)

Escherichia coli (bladder infections)

98.6/37

  17

Shigella dysenteriae (shigellosis)

98.6/37

  23

Salmonella typhosa (typhoid fever)

98.6/37

  24

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (multiple diseases)

98.6/37

  31

Staphylococcus aureus (wound infections)

98.6/37

  32

Bacillus subtilis (common in soil)

96.8/36

  35

Clostridium botulinum (botulism)

98.6/37

  35

Streptococcus lactis (used in buttermilk and cheese)

   86/30

  48

Lactobacillus acidophilus (ferments sugars into lactic acid)

98.6/37

  66

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis)

98.6/37

792



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