Effect of pre-incubation temperature on the lag time of Aeromonas hydrophila

The effect of prior incubation temperature (5, 15, 25 and 35°C) on the lag times of two strains of Aeromonas hydrophila at the same four incubation temperatures was assessed. When grown at 5°C the type strain (ATCC 7966) showed a 28-fold difference in lag time depending on whether the inoculum had been incubated at 5 or 35°C. However, the corresponding factor for a food-derived strain was only 4. A similar effect was observed, to a lesser extent, under most of the conditions used. Prior incubation temperature had no effect on generation time.