![advantages and disadvantages of the serial dilution agar plate technique advantages and disadvantages of the serial dilution agar plate technique](https://s3.studylib.net/store/data/008652366_1-2ffcd2903fe3297d06a50069df2b83e8-768x994.png)
Make a uniform smear with the inoculum at the edge of the plate.Depending on the sample, the loop may pick up hundreds or thousands of bacteria, which are spread back and forth across the surface of the agar.Dip the loop into a sample containing a mixture of bacteria.Cool the sterilized loop by allowing it to stand for a few seconds. Streak plate method is a pure culture technique which helps in isolating desired colonies from contaminants. In all three methods, the purpose is to dilute the sample. The three methods for isolation are the streak plate, pour-plate and the spread plate. To separate a colony from a group is called isolation, and there are several isolation techniques. This is especially true if you use a human specimen to inoculate the media, as it will contain many microbes. When looking at a culture, many times you need to separate one of the masses or group of cells, called a colony, from the others. In microbiology we perform the ten fold serial dilutions. It is the stepwise dilution of any solution or sample before testing to reduce the microbial load. Serial dilution is done before performing different isolation techniques. However, if a culture contains unknown or unwanted microbes, it is contamination. If there are two or more microbes that are identifiable then it is a mixed culture. If the culture only has one type of microbe from a known origin it is a pure culture. Types of CulturesĬultures are classified by the number and type of species present. After incubating your microbes the growth you see on the plate or in the broth is known as the culture. Such conditions as temperature, Oxygen, etc. Microbes should be incubated at their optimal conditions.
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In the clinical setting, a sample such as feces, saliva, blood or other human material, may be used to obtain the inoculum.Īfter the inoculation of media, we must allow it time to grow or to incubate. In the lab we usually use a media, such as nutrient agar plate or broth tube to grow the microbe. The first step in cultivating microbes is to obtain a small sample, known as an inoculum and to introduce it to an new environment which allows the microbe to grow.