0 0 votes The most plausible explanation for a sudden increase of the respiratory quotient $(RQ)$ of a microbial culture is that cells are dying yield of biomass is increasing the fermentation rate is increasing relative to respiration rate the maintenance rate is decreasing Microbiology gate2014 microbial-growth microbiology bioreaction-engineering + – Milicevic3306 7.9k points answer comment Share Follow 0 reply Please log in or register to add a comment.