Hi everyone! It has been a lot of frustrating days in which I'm trying to fetch this kind of information...
I have been told that in a biological system, e.g. a batch bacterial mixed community, it is better not to remove more than 10% of the working volume during an experiment. The fact is that I cannot find any paper or scientific explanation for this, and I don't know how to behave.
I mean, I am planning an extended experiment in which I need to take samples very often for analyses.
So I'm asking if some of you know if this information is correct (and in case, if you can please provide references) or not.
Thanks a lot, it would be really helpful!
I think the issue is that when you have removed a significant volume of the experiment then the conditions may be changed by the volume changes. For example the level of aeration may change, mixing rates will differ etc. So if by the end of the experiment you have removed 50% or 70% of the volume, the samples collected at the later time points will have experienced a different environment.
There may be some conditions or experiments where that does not matter, but it could be a concern. I doubt the 10% is any sort of exact number, just a rule of thumb.
Could you set up replicated samples and use them to represent each time point? That would allow you to take a larger sample volume (if that is what you need for analysis) without worrying about volume losses creating a different environment for the later timepoints.
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