Microbial Growth and Its Control - Viable Counting of Microbial Cell Numbers

4 important questions on Microbial Growth and Its Control - Viable Counting of Microbial Cell Numbers

What is a viable cell?

A viable cell is one that is able to divide and form offspring, and i most cell-counting situations, these are the cells we are most interested in.

What are two ways to perform a plate count?

  • The spread-plate method
  • The pour-plate method

What are limitations of plate counts?

Number of colonies depends on:
  • Culture media
  • Incubation conditions
  • Length of incubation
  • Size of colonies
  • Pure/mixed culture

Plate counting is subject to error for several reasons:
  • Inaccurate pipetting
  • Nonuniform sample
  • Insufficient spreading
  • Heat intolerance
  • Biological variation
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What is better to express plate counting in than number of viable cells?

Plaque forming units

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