Bacteria: Structure, Growth, Culturing and Counting

The following are the functions of the various structures of the various features of the bacterial cell.

Bacteria are very flexible and obtain energy in a number of ways. This includes respiration at the mesosome; many bacteria perform photosynthesis at additional sites with specialized pigments. Energy can also be obtained by oxidizing inorganic compounds, using the energy to synthesize organic compounds - nitrifying bacteria do this.

Bacteria reproduce by an asexual process called binary fission. First, the DNA replicates and the cell elongates. In the middle of the elongated cell, a septum forms and this develops into a cell wall that divides two separate cells.

The population of bacteria follows a predictable pattern, and this can be represented as follows.

1. 1
   Lag

   .

   The first phase is the lag phase the cells are active but do not increase very much. The exponential phase follows where a plentiful supply of nutrient and space allow an ever-increasing rate of growth, and bacterial production outstrips bacterial death.

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2. 2
   Stationary

   .

   Once the carrying capacity (the maximum population the environment can support), is reached, the population enters the stationary phase where no net change in population occurs. The environment is changed by the bacteria as metabolic waste builds up and the conditions become increasingly difficult. This leads to the final stage.

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3. 3
   Death

   .

   The death or final phase is when more cells die than are produced, as a result of waste toxicity, starvation, and oxygen shortage; and the population declines.

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When growing bacteria in the lab, it is important to use aseptic conditions that will prevent contamination by other micro-organisms and protect scientists from growing pathogens. Techniques used include:

• Heating instruments (inoculating loop for example) over a bunsen burner.
• Flaming the neck of tubes.
• Opening the Petri dish lid as little as possible to reduce contamination from airborne micro-organisms.

When culturing bacteria it is often necessary to count how many bacteria there are. There are a variety of methods used to determine this.

1. 1
   Haemocytometry

   .

   This is a total count method where every cell (dead or alive) is counted. It works by introducing a standard amount of bacteria solution into the hemocytometer - a glass slide with lots of grid lines. This is placed under a microscope and the number of cells counted using a standard method.

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2. 2
   Turbidimetry

   .

   A far simpler technique is turbidimetry, which works on the principle that a more turbid (cloudy) solution has more cells. The amount of light absorbed is recorded and can be compared with reference graphs to estimate the number of cells. This is also a total cell count method.

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3. 3
   Dilution plating

   .

   1cm3 of the original bacterial solution is taken and diluted with 9cm3 of water. The same is done with this diluted solution and so on. A sample from each dilution is cultured. Once individual colonies can be seen, it means each of those represents a single bacterium that was in the solution. The number is multiplied by the dilution factor.

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4. 4
   Viable Cells

   .

   With this method, only those bacteria which are alive are counted, since dead bacteria can not grow colonies. Depending on the aim of your investigation, this could be a much more useful type of count.

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When a bacterial solution is spread out evenly over an agar surface, it will produce a bacterial lawn. It is used in testing the effectiveness of antibiotics or disinfectants.

B has a zone of inhibition which means it has prevented bacteria growing. A, however, has had no effect. The size of the zone is indicative of the substance's concentration, rather than its effectiveness.

Hi Jamie what is exponential growth Doubling time and growth rate?

I want to be conversant with easy methods of calculating the exponential growth of bacteria using natural log. So please help solve these questions: 1. In a batch fermentation experiment, bacterial numbers are recorded at two intervals during the growth phase; the results are given below. Time (minutes) Bacterial numbers in fermenter 110 103 160 105

What is the grow rate (µ) for this microbe in this experiment?

2. If the culture in question 1 maintains its current rate of growth for a further 3 hours, what would you expect the bacterial numbers to be? 1.You are preparing a culture of E. coli for an experiment you have determined that it has a growth rate (µ) of 100.015 min-1. The culture is in an exponential phase of growth, and cell numbers are currently 103. You need a population of 108 cells, how long must you wait?

3.You have a culture of bacteria which is growing at a rate (µ) of100.021 min-1. You measure the cell numbers to be 107. Assuming the growth rate has remained constant, how long ago was the number

Becoming an expert on bacterial exponential growth takes time and practice. Take your time to run over experiments and calculations to become one. Every formula you need to solve your questions is explained in this article by Frederick C. Neidhardt, John Ingraham, and Moselio Schaechter. If you want a fast way to get your results, there is an online calculator that makes it easy to get accurate results on exponential growth rate and doubling time. You should try it at endmemo.com.

Jamie can you give me the exact definition of culturing bacteria?

Destination of bacterial growth and culturing bacteria

When looking for definitions for "culturing bacteria," it is more common to find it as "bacterial culture." It is a method of multiplying microbial organisms by letting them reproduce in predetermined culture media under controlled laboratory conditions. Microbial cultures are used to determine the type of organism, its abundance in the sample being tested, or both. It is one of the primary diagnostic methods of microbiology and used as a tool to determine the cause of infectious disease by letting the agent multiply in a predetermined medium. Wikipedia

I have problem with capsule in growth promotion & antimicrobial effectiveness test, the microorganism stick to the wall and the results of the test is not comparable

In order to ensure you are completing an effective antimicrobial effectiveness test, proper preparation of testing materials is necessary. First, ensure you are using particle-free water to in your capsule. It is also important to ensure you have created a vacuum during transfer to the filtration funnel. Once you have completed filling your solution, ensure you have effectively rinsed the filter with particle free water. When you place the membrane in the Petri dish, ensure you have left enough time for the filter to dry. By following these steps you may improve the results of your test.

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