Growth characteristics of fecal consortia on media of varied composition.

<p>(A) Growth of fecal cultures from group I (FS1-5) on medium without levan and amino acids. (B) Growth of fecal cultures from group II (FS6-11) on medium without levan and amino acids. (C) Growth of fecal cultures from group I on medium with levan. (D) Growth of fecal cultures from group II on medium with levan. μ - specific growth rate (h^-1), Q—heat accumulated (J) and P_max—maximum heat evolution rates (power, μW) achieved in different growth phases. Growth phase is defined as time between the power peak maxima, <i>i</i>.<i>e</i>. each power peak divides growth into two phases: before and after power peak maximum. Error bars indicate standard deviation of 2–4 biological replicates. Line graphs illustrate the heat evolution rate (P–power, μW) during the whole experiment. Note that line graphs on consortia growth with and without levan have different Y axis scale.