| Abstract: | It is shown that the Bacillus megaterium population has two types of qualitatively differing cells: exo- and endotrophic ones, i.e. the cells which assimilate in a given moment of time the source of carbon and energy from the medium or only intracellular sources of carbon and energy. Trophic structure of the population has been analyzed in different phases of the batch culture as well as in case of cell starvation. In all cases the content of exotrophic cells in the bacilli population considerably decreases with exhaustion of the nutrient medium. The obtained results are hypothetically explained by the alteration of the exo- and endotrophic processes in a cell cycle of bacteria. |
