Continuous synchronous culture of Tetrahymena pyroformis

Tetrahymena was continuously cultivated in a series of stirred tank reactors with recycle. By holding part of the reactor train at a higher temperature than the remainder a synchronizing influence was introduced into the cells' environment. The system resulted in division occurring preferentially in a small contiguous group of the reactors, this effect being observed in both the number of cells found in each reactor and also their size distribution.