Enrichments of aquatic bacteria in continuous culture

Summary A chemostat was employed for the enrichment and eventual isolation of a variety of heterotrophic bacteria from seawater. Experimental attempts to separate single species from mixed cultures of known composition showed that successful or unsuccessful competition for the limiting substrate is based upon the particular growth parameters of the individual species under the given culture conditions. The technique appears to be suitable to enrich reproducibly for bacterial species of little substrate specificity. Applications in ecological studies are discussed.Dedicated to Prof. C. B. Van Niel on the occasion of his 70th birthday.Contribution No. 1919 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Supported by the National Science Foundation Research Grant No. GB-5199.