Consider a culture into which two E. coli strains are inoculated. Strain A is normal with g=21 min at 37 degrees C, and 42 mins at 27 degrees C. Strain B has a temperature-sensitive mutation, such that g=55 mins at 37 degrees C, and 39 mins at 27 degrees C.
We inoculate equal amounts of cells (1 ml of each starter culture whose population is 1 x 10^6 cfu/ml) into each of two separate 1 liter volumes of LB broth at time=0. One of the flasks is incubated at 37 degrees C, one at 27 degrees C.
Assuming constant exponential growth (i.e. no lag phase, and no exhaustion of nutrients), answer each of these questions:
1) After 6 hours of growth, what is the final concentraion of each strain in each flask?
2) What fraction of the total population is Strain A and Strain B in each flask?
3) How long would each flask need to go for one strain to become 90% of the population?