[Population growth rate of the rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis (Rotifera: Brachionidae) in a two-stage chemostat].

The population growth rate of the rotifer Brachionus rotundiformis (Rotifera: Brachionidae) in two-stage chemostat. The population growth rates of Brachionus rotundiformis were estimated in two-stage chemostat cultures. Chlorella sorokiniana was supplied continuously from a steady state culture growing with constant illumination on limiting nitrate. Rotifer growth in the second stage was limited by the rate of algal supply. The algal supply rate and rotifer population growth rate were determined by the second-stage dilution rate. The maximum population growth rate in the transient state of B. rotundiformis (1.96 day(-1)) was observed at 2.5 x 10(6) cel/ml of the algae whereas in the steady state the maximum population growth rate (1.09 day(-1)) was similar to the point Hopf's bifurcation predicted by Fussmann and was observed at 1 x 10(6) cel/ml of the algae. In the transient state, the rotifer's growth rate increased and the duplication time decreased at higher algal concentrations, until reaching a peak where the population growth rate begins to decrease. In the steady state, the opposite was true. The growth rates observed in this work are among the highest recorded for this rotifer in continuous cultures.