---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: free access
_id: '1902'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: In the 1960s-1980s, determination of bacterial growth rates was an important
    tool in microbial genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and microbial physiology.
    The exciting technical developments of the 1990s and the 2000s eclipsed that tool;
    as a result, many investigators today lack experience with growth rate measurements.
    Recently, investigators in a number of areas have started to use measurements
    of bacterial growth rates for a variety of purposes. Those measurements have been
    greatly facilitated by the availability of microwell plate readers that permit
    the simultaneous measurements on up to 384 different cultures. Only the exponential
    (logarithmic) portions of the resulting growth curves are useful for determining
    growth rates, and manual determination of that portion and calculation of growth
    rates can be tedious for high-throughput purposes. Here, we introduce the program
    GrowthRates that uses plate reader output files to automatically determine the
    exponential portion of the curve and to automatically calculate the growth rate,
    the maximum culture density, and the duration of the growth lag phase. GrowthRates
    is freely available for Macintosh, Windows, and Linux.We discuss the effects of
    culture volume, the classical bacterial growth curve, and the differences between
    determinations in rich media and minimal (mineral salts) media. This protocol
    covers calibration of the plate reader, growth of culture inocula for both rich
    and minimal media, and experimental setup. As a guide to reliability, we report
    typical day-to-day variation in growth rates and variation within experiments
    with respect to position of wells within the plates.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Barry
  full_name: Hall, Barry
  last_name: Hall
- first_name: Hande
  full_name: Acar, Hande
  id: 2DDF136A-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Acar
  orcid: 0000-0003-1986-9753
- first_name: Anna
  full_name: Nandipati, Anna
  last_name: Nandipati
- first_name: Miriam
  full_name: Barlow, Miriam
  last_name: Barlow
citation:
  ama: Hall B, Acar H, Nandipati A, Barlow M. Growth rates made easy. <i>Molecular
    Biology and Evolution</i>. 2014;31(1):232-238. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187">10.1093/molbev/mst187</a>
  apa: Hall, B., Acar, H., Nandipati, A., &#38; Barlow, M. (2014). Growth rates made
    easy. <i>Molecular Biology and Evolution</i>. Oxford University Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187">https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187</a>
  chicago: Hall, Barry, Hande Acar, Anna Nandipati, and Miriam Barlow. “Growth Rates
    Made Easy.” <i>Molecular Biology and Evolution</i>. Oxford University Press, 2014.
    <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187">https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187</a>.
  ieee: B. Hall, H. Acar, A. Nandipati, and M. Barlow, “Growth rates made easy,” <i>Molecular
    Biology and Evolution</i>, vol. 31, no. 1. Oxford University Press, pp. 232–238,
    2014.
  ista: Hall B, Acar H, Nandipati A, Barlow M. 2014. Growth rates made easy. Molecular
    Biology and Evolution. 31(1), 232–238.
  mla: Hall, Barry, et al. “Growth Rates Made Easy.” <i>Molecular Biology and Evolution</i>,
    vol. 31, no. 1, Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 232–38, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187">10.1093/molbev/mst187</a>.
  short: B. Hall, H. Acar, A. Nandipati, M. Barlow, Molecular Biology and Evolution
    31 (2014) 232–238.
date_created: 2018-12-11T11:54:37Z
date_published: 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2025-09-29T12:29:33Z
day: '01'
department:
- _id: JoBo
doi: 10.1093/molbev/mst187
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000329253200022'
  pmid:
  - '24170494'
intvolume: '        31'
isi: 1
issue: '1'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst187
month: '01'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 232 - 238
pmid: 1
publication: Molecular Biology and Evolution
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1537-1719
  issn:
  - 0737-4038
publication_status: published
publisher: Oxford University Press
publist_id: '5193'
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Growth rates made easy
type: journal_article
user_id: 317138e5-6ab7-11ef-aa6d-ffef3953e345
volume: 31
year: '2014'
...