OD660 vs Number of Cells

The chart below came to me from UC Boulder, and shows the number of yeast cells for various OD660 readings.


        Cells
OD660  x10^7
0.000	0.000		0.510	0.717		1.010	1.890		1.510	4.550
0.010	0.015		0.520	0.733		1.020	1.926		1.520	4.625
0.020	0.025		0.530	0.750		1.030	1.963		1.530	4.700
0.030	0.040		0.540	0.766		1.040	2.000		1.540	4.775
0.040	0.053		0.550	0.783		1.050	2.040		1.550	4.850
0.050	0.055		0.560	0.800		1.060	2.080		1.560	4.925
0.060	0.078		0.570	0.817		1.070	2.120		1.570	5.000
0.070	0.090		0.580	0.833		1.080	2.163		1.580	5.075
0.080	0.103		0.590	0.850		1.090	2.206		1.590	5.150
0.090	0.115		0.600	0.866		1.100	2.250		1.600	5.225
0.100	0.128		0.610	0.883		1.110	2.296		1.610	5.300
0.110	0.140		0.620	0.900		1.120	2.343		1.620	5.380
0.120	0.153		0.630	0.917		1.130	2.390		1.630	5.460
0.130	0.165		0.640	0.933		1.140	2.433		1.640	5.540
0.140	0.178		0.650	0.950		1.150	2.476		1.650	5.630
0.150	0.190		0.660	0.966		1.160	2.520		1.660	5.700
0.160	0.204		0.670	0.983		1.170	2.566		1.670	5.800
0.170	0.216		0.680	1.000		1.180	2.613		1.680	5.890
0.180	0.229		0.690	1.023		1.190	2.660		1.690	5.980
0.190	0.241		0.700	1.046		1.200	2.706		1.700	6.070
0.200	0.255		0.710	1.070		1.210	2.753			
0.210	0.268		0.720	1.093		1.220	2.800			
0.220	0.280		0.730	1.116		1.230	2.850			
0.230	0.293		0.740	1.140		1.240	2.900			
0.240	0.306		0.750	1.160		1.250	2.950			
0.250	0.319		0.760	1.180		1.260	3.002			
0.260	0.330		0.770	1.200		1.270	3.055			
0.270	0.342		0.780	1.220		1.280	3.107			
0.280	0.356		0.790	1.240		1.290	3.160			
0.290	0.370		0.800	1.260		1.300	3.220			
0.300	0.385		0.810	1.283		1.310	3.280			
0.310	0.399		0.820	1.306		1.320	3.340			
0.320	0.412		0.830	1.330		1.330	3.400
0.330	0.426		0.840	1.353		1.340	3.460
0.340	0.440		0.850	1.376		1.350	3.520
0.350	0.455		0.860	1.400		1.360	3.580
0.360	0.470		0.870	1.430		1.370	3.640
0.370	0.484		0.880	1.460		1.380	3.700
0.380	0.499		0.890	1.490		1.390	3.760
0.390	0.514		0.900	1.520		1.400	3.820
0.400	0.530		0.910	1.550		1.410	3.880
0.410	0.547		0.920	1.580		1.420	3.940
0.420	0.564		0.930	1.610		1.430	4.000
0.430	0.580		0.940	1.640		1.440	4.065
0.440	0.600		0.950	1.670		1.450	4.130
0.450	0.617		0.960	1.703		1.460	4.200
0.460	0.633		0.970	1.736		1.470	4.270
0.470	0.650		0.980	1.770		1.480	4.340
0.480	0.666		0.990	1.810		1.490	4.410
0.490	0.683		1.000	1.850		1.500	4.480
0.500	0.700						


Several measurements of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain YPH499 gave an Cell/OD600 relationship of 4-9 x 10^7 cells/ml per OD600.

According to Current Protocols: OD600 of 1.0 is roughly 3 x 10^7 cells/ml.