State Medical Academy, Ivanovo, Russia
Different data characterizing the growth and development of rod-shaped bacterial cells (Shigella flexneri strains S and Rd) at the initial stage of the formation of their populations on a solid culture medium were analyzed with a view to the evaluation of the adaptive process. The study revealed that Lo and Lk (initial and end of bacterial lenght) and τ (generation time) of cells were the optimal informative characteristics. The determination of these characteristics on the cell population level showed the specific features of the adaptive process of the bacterial cultures. The ratio Lk/Lo of the population cells characterized the morphological (funtional) structure of the population. It can be regarded as the structural adaptive index of the population. The determined the values of τ in the cell population reflected the adequacy (correspondence) of the intracellular state to the conditions of the environment, thus serving as indicator of the profundity of stress.
Zh. Mikrobiol. (Moscow), 2004, No. 6, P. 13—18