Application macroscopic principles to microbial metabolism

Abstract

From the thermodynamic point of view, microorganisms are open ~ysterns;'.~*~*~ they exchange matter and energy with the environment. As such, the formalism of thermodynamics of open systems provides the natural approach to the phenomena encountered in microbial growth and product formation. In the next sections, the formalism will be briefly reviewed and applications to microbial systems will be treated. A more complete account of the basic formalism can be found in a recent p~blicatio