Hello everyone!
Usually in the lab, growth curves are constructed for different bacterial species, and the effect of different treatments or stimuli, and the changes in proteins and mRNA are assessed and compared between the different phases of growth (lag, log, transition and stationary). I was wondering, in their natural environment (e.g fresh water, the skin, the gut, etc.), at which growth phase are the bacteria living there?
Bacteria in the environment can be at any of those phases depending on nutrient availability among other factors. Hence there is no one "natural phase" its all part of cycle that is regulated based on internal and external factors. In the lab most people prefer to use log phase because that is the phase where the cells are most alike and the results can be reproduced easily.
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