Exploring the lag phase and growth initiation of a yeast culture by means of an individual-based model

The performance of fermentation processes is greatly influenced by the size and quality of inocula. The characterization of the replicative age is decided by the number of birth scars each yeast exhibits on its cellular membrane. Yeast ageing and inoculum size are factors that affect industrial fermentation, particularly those processes in which the yeast cells are reused such as the production of beer. This process reuses yeast cropped at the end of one fermentation in the following one, in a process called “serial repitching”. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of inoculum size and ageing on the first stages of the dynamics of yeast population growth. However, only Individual-based Models (IbMs) allow the study of small, well-characterized, microbial inocula. We used INDISIM-YEAST, based on the generic IbM simulator INDISIM, to carry out these studies. Several simulations were performed to analyze the effect of the inoculum size and genealogical age of the cells that made it up on the lag phase, first division time and specific growth rate. The shortest lag phase and time to the first division were obtained with largest inocula and with the youngest inoculated parent cells. Keywords: Individual-based model; Lag phase; Growth initiation; Yeast inoculum; Inoculum size; Yeast cell age