A theoretical basis for the entrainment of chemostat populations

Model analysis reveals that if cell growth rate is dependent upon physiological age (or size), then oscillation of a limiting concentration of essential nutrilite over the cell growth cycle acts to entrain the growth of cells comprising chemostat populations. Experiments, in which chemostat populations of Schizosaccaromyces pombe were subjected to oscillations in a growth limiting concentration of glucose, have provided evidence supporting the major prediction of the model. Finally, the functional relationship between the present type of cell growth model and other recently proposed cell growth models is discussed.