Form for scientific notation
a × 10b
1 < a < 10
b gives the order of magnitude
What are plate counts used for?
Determining water, milk, food quality
103
kilo
100
Base unit
10-3
milli
10-6
micro
10-9
nano
Why are serial dilutions used?
Method used to efficiently calculate the number of microbes in a sample.
Dilutions will thin out the lawn until we can see single colonies, which we can physically count
Diluent
a fluid used to dilute the concentrated sample
(e.g. water)
Aliquot
a smaller volume withdrawn from a total sample volume
Dilution factor
Fraction by which your original sample concentration is diluted
Equation for dilution factor
DF = Vf / Vi
Vf = aliquot volume + diluent volume
Equation for dilution
Dilution A = (total dilution)(original concentration)
Equation for final dilution
Final dilution = product of total dilutions at every step in the series
Final sets of the tubes have the highest ______ and the lowest ______.
dilution; concentration
P1000
200-1000µL
0 | 9 | 0 (=900µL)
Larger blue tips
P200
20-200µL
1 | 0 | 0 (=100µL)
Smaller yellow tips
Using micropipettors
Spread Plating
When are plates considered countable?
30-300 colonies
TNTC (too numerous to count): >300 colonies
TFTC (too few to count): < 30 colonies
Calculating the number of bacteria in the original sample
O.T. Concentration = Number of CFUs / (Total Dilution)(Volume Plated)
O.T. Concentration = (Number of CFUs)(Total Dilution Factor) / Volume Plated
units: CFU/mL
Growth Characteristic Tests
Strict aerobe
connot exist without 02
Strict anaerobe
cannot live in the presence of O2