Maintenance energy: a general model for energy-limited and energy-sufficient growth.

The new model proposed to account for the energy requirement for growth includes both a constant maintenance energy term (m) independent of the specific growth rate and a term (m') which decreases linearly with increase in specific growth rate and becomes zero at the maximum specific growth rate. The available data for testing the model do not deviate significantly from the relations predicted. Consistent values of the maximum growth yield (YG) can be derived, irrespective of whether the cultures are energy limited or energy sufficient. Attention is drawn to the possibility that the constant maintenance energy term may be estimated from the maximum specific growth rate.