Reproduction

Photo 2 and 3: (C) 1969 Thomas Brock~Large sphere of T. Aquaticus culture

    "The colonies where Thermus aquaticus can be found are compact and slow spreading. When the colonies are looked at on yeast extract plus mineral salts-agar, the colonies are yellow to bright orange. The isolates are filamentous and during continued transfer the filaments become shorter. The growth and reproduction of the cells are influenced by temperature and by the growth stage of the culture. For the bacteria to reproduce vitamins and amino acids are not needed, although reproduction occurs more productively in an enriched environment. For the reproduction to occur, Thermus aquaticus must have access to oxygen, because it is obligate aerobic." (Thomas D. Brock)  Thermus Aquaticus reproduce asexually, and it is a slow forming colony.  It is also a non-sporulating bacterium, so it is never inactive and it is always alive or dead.  Thermus Aquaticus also conjugates, and this is a cool video showing how bacteria conjugate:

http://trc.ucdavis.edu/biosci10v/bis10v/week7/bacterial_conjugation.mov

In optimum conditions, Thermus aquaticus reproduces once every 50 minutes, so ever bacteria will create 536870912 bacteria in just over a day, and in one week there would have been 203 generations, and there would be a total of 6.42775e*60, assuming optimum conditions are kept throughout a week, and the bacteria do not overpopulate or die.