Selection of thermostable Serratia marcescens from logarithmic-phase cultures as a means for inducing synchronous growth.

Hess, George E. (U. S. Army Chemical Corps, Fort Detrick, Maryland) and Milton Shon. Selection of thermostable Serratia marcescens from logarithmic-phase cultures as a means for inducing synchronous growth. J. Bacteriol. 83:781-784. 1962.-A relatively thermostable, apparently nonmultiplying, population of Serratia marcescens was found in cultures in the exponential phase of growth. Thermal treatment of the whole culture resulted in the death of the multiplying cell fraction, although the nonmultiplying fraction remained viable. Subcultivation of the thermally treated suspensions yielded cultures in which most of the viable organisms multiplied synchronously for at least two generations.