Cell growth rate is a regulated process and a primary determinant of cell physiology. Continuous culturing using chemostats enables extrinsic control of cell growth rate by nutrient limitation facilitating the study of molecular networks that control cell growth and how those networks evolve to optimize cell growth.
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Method Article
The Use of Chemostats in Microbial Systems Biology
In This Article
Summary
Abstract
Cells regulate their rate of growth in response to signals from the external world. As the cell grows, diverse cellular processes must be coordinated including macromolecular synthesis, metabolism and ultimately, commitment to the cell division cycle. The chemostat, a method of experimentally controlling cell growth rate, provides a powerful means of systematically studying how growth rate impacts cellular processes - including gene expression and metabolism - and the regulatory networks that control the rate of cell growth. When maintained for hundreds of generations chemostats can be used to study adaptive evolution of microbes in environmental conditions that limit cell growth. We describe the principle of chemostat cultures, demonstrate their operation and provide examples of their various applications. Following a period of disuse after their introduction in the middle of the twentieth century, the convergence of genome-scale methodologies with a renewed interest in the regulation of cell growth and the molecular basis of adaptive evolution is stimulating a renaissance in the use of chemostats in biological research.
Introduction
The growth of cells is regulated by complex networks of interacting genetic and environmental factors1,2. The multifactorial regulation of cell growth necessitates a system-level approach to its study. However, the rigorous study of regulated cell growth is challenged by the difficulty of experimentally controlling the rate at which cells grow. Moreover, in even the simplest experiments extracellular conditions are frequently dynamic and complex as cells continuously alter their environment as they proliferate. A solution to these problems is provided by the chemostat: a method of culturing cells that enables experimental control of cell growth rates in def....
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Protocol
The principle of continuous culturing using a chemostat can be realized in a variety of implementations. In all chemostats it is essential to have 1) methods for maintaining sterility of all components, 2) a well-mixed culture, 3) appropriate aeration of the culture vessel and 4) a reliable means of media addition and culture removal. Here, we describe the use of a Sixfors bioreactor (Infors Inc) as a chemostat using methods that can be readily adapted to alternative setups.
1. Assembling the Chemostat Vessels
- Turn on the Sixfors using the main switch.
- Thoroughly rinse the chemostat vessel, stirrer assembly, and attach....
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Results
A major advantage of chemostats is the ability to control the growth rate of cells experimentally by varying the dilution rate. In the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the morphology of a cell is informative of its phase in the cell division cycle. Populations with higher growth rates contain a higher proportion of actively dividing cells as determined by measuring the fraction of unbudded cells (Figure 5A). Analyses of global mRNA expression in chemostat cultures has shown that the expression of.......
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Discussion
Chemostats enable the cultivation of microbes in growth-controlled steady-state conditions. The cells grow continuously at a constant rate resulting in an invariant external environment. This is in contrast to batch culture methods in which the external environment is continuously changing and the rate of cell growth is determined by the complex interaction of environment and genotype. Thus, a major advantage of culturing microbes in chemostats over batch cultures is the ability to experimentally control the growth rate .......
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Disclosures
The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by start up funds form New York University. We thank Maitreya Dunham and Matt Brauer who initially developed the use of Sixfors bioreactors as chemostats.
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Materials
| Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infors-HT Sixfors Chemostat | Appropriate Technical Resources, Inc. | ||
| Glass Bottle 9.5 L | Fisher Scientific | 02-887-1 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Pinchcock | Fisher Scientific | 05-867 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Stopper, Size 12, Green Neoprene | Cole-Palmer | EW-62991-42 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Straight Connector | Cole-Palmer | EW-30703-02 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| General purpose ties 4 in | Fisher Scientific | NC9557052 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Tubing, Silicone Rubber | Small Parts | B000FMWTDE | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Tubing, Silicone, 3/8 in OD | Fisher Scientific | 02-587-1Q | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Tubing, Silicone, 7/32 in OD | Fisher Scientific | 02-587-1E | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Tubing, Stainless Steel, 3/16 in OD | McMaster-Carr | 6100K164 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Tubing, Stainless Steel, 3/8 in OD | McMaster-Carr | 6100K161 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Hook Connectors | Fisher Scientific | 14-66-18Q | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Ratchet Clamp | Cole-Palmer | EW-06403-11 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Luer, Female | Cole-Palmer | EW-45512-34 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Luer, Male | Cole-Palmer | EW-45513-04 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Millipore Aervent MTGR05010 62 mm Filter, 0.2 μm | Fisher Scientific | MTGR05010 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| PTFE Acrodisc CR 13 mm filters, 0.2 μm | Fisher Scientific | NC9131037 | For Media Vessel and Hosing |
| Direct-Reading Flowtube for Air | Cole-Palmer | EW-32047-77 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Direct-Reading Flowtube for Nitrogen | Cole-Palmer | EW-32048-63 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Gas Proportioner Multitube Frames | Cole-Palmer | EW-03218-50 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Regulator, Two-Stage Analytical | Airgas | Y12-N145D580 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Hose Adaptor, Stainless Steel | Airgas | Y99-26450 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Hose Male Adaptor | Airgas | WES544 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Norprene Tubing | US Plastics | 57280 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Tripod Base | Cole-Palmer | EW-03218-58 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Valve Cartridges | Cole-Palmer | EW-03217-92 | For Nitrogen Gas Setup |
| Carboy 10 L | Fisher Scientific | 02-963-2A | For Media Preperation |
| Steritop Sterile Vacuum Bottle-Top Filters, 1,000 ml, PES membrane; for 45 mm neck size | Fisher Scientific | SCGP-T10-RE | For Media Preperation |
| Media Bottle 100 ml, 45 mm neck size | Fisher Scientific | FB-800-100 | For Media Preperation |
| calcium chloride·2H2O | Fisher Scientific | C79-500 | Media Reagents |
| sodium chloride | Fisher Scientific | BP358-1 | Media Reagents |
| magnesium sulfate·7H2O | Sigma Aldrich | 230391 | Media Reagents |
| potassium phosphate monobasic | Fisher Scientific | AC424205000 | Media Reagents |
| ammonium sulfate | Fisher Scientific | AC423400010 | Media Reagents |
| potassium chloride | Sigma Aldrich | P9541 | Media Reagents |
| boric acid | Sigma Aldrich | B6768 | Media Reagents |
| copper sulfate·5H2O | Sigma Aldrich | 209198 | Media Reagents |
| potassium iodide | Sigma Aldrich | 60400 | Media Reagents |
| ferric chloride·6H2O | Fisher Scientific | I88-100 | Media Reagents |
| manganese sulfate·H2O | Sigma Aldrich | 230391 | Media Reagents |
| sodium molybdate·2H2O | Sigma Aldrich | M7634 | Media Reagents |
| zinc sulfate·7H2O | Fisher Scientific | Z68-500 | Media Reagents |
| biotin | Fisher Scientific | BP232-1 | Media Reagents |
| calcium pantothenate | Fisher Scientific | AC24330-1000 | Media Reagents |
| folic acid | Sigma Aldrich | F7876 | Media Reagents |
| inositol (aka myo-inositol) | Fisher Scientific | AC12226-1000 | Media Reagents |
| niacin (aka nicotinic acid) | Sigma Aldrich | N4126 | Media Reagents |
| p-aminobenzoic acid | Fisher Scientific | AC14621-2500 | Media Reagents |
| pyridoxine HCl | Sigma Aldrich | P9755 | Media Reagents |
| riboflavin | Sigma Aldrich | R4500-25G | Media Reagents |
| thiamine HCl | Fisher Scientific | BP892-100 | Media Reagents |
| Leucine | Sigma Aldrich | L8000-100G | Media Reagents |
| Uracil | Sigma Aldrich | U0750 | Media Reagents |
| Dextrose | Fisher Scientific | DF0155-08-5 | Media Reagents |
References
- Ingraham, J. L., Maaloe, O., Neidhardt, F. C. Growth of the Bacterial Cell. , Sinauer Associates, Inc. (1983).
- Cell Growth: Control of Cell Size. Hall, M. N., Raff, M. C., Thomas, G. , CSHL Press. (2004).
- Monod, J. La technique de culture continue, theorie et applications. Ann. Inst. Pasteur. 79, 390-410 (1950). <....
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