DIRECT PLATE COUNTING Direct plate counting is a microbiological technique used to evaluate the actual bacterial content of a product or specimen; and it gives an estimate of viable or living cells present in a sample. It is usually carried out by plating an aliquot of the sample on solid agar medium that supports the […]
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Microbe Lab, Techniques in Microbiology Lab
Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, non-motile, facultative rod in the genus Klebsiella and family Enterobacteriaceae. In addition to O and H antigens, K. pneumoniae possess K antigens (that consists mainly of polysaccharides). K antigens are capsular antigens found mostly amongst members of the Enterobacteriaceae family; and in the case of K. pneumoniae, the
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Bacteriology
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a non-enteric, oxidase positive, Gram-negative, motile; obligate aerobic straight or curved rod that is found in the genus Pseudomonas and family Pseudomonadaceae. They are recurrently present in small numbers as members of the normal flora in the small intestine and skin of humans especially in hospitalized patients. P. aeruginosa is the most
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Bacteriology
Sterilization is defined as any process by which objects, materials or an environment may be rendered sterile (i.e. completely free from all forms of life). Sterilization is the process by which all living cells, viable spores, viruses and viroids are either destroyed or removed from an object or habitat. It is essential for all fermentation
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Industrial Microbiology
Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a group of Gram positive, non-sporing bacteria that carryout lactic acid fermentation of carbohydrates or sugars. Lactic acid fermentation is a type of fermentation carried out by LAB in which sugars including glucose, lactose and pentoses are converted to lactic acids or a mixture of lactic acids and other products.
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Industrial Microbiology
The population of microorganisms in the soil are affected or influenced by many factors including soil moisture, pH, temperature, aeration, and amounts of organic and inorganic nutrients. Mesophiles (mesophilic microbes) grow at temperature range of 25-35oC while thermophiles (thermophilic microbes) grow at higher temperatures such as 45-65oC and above. Psychrophiles are microbes that thrive
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Environmental & Soil Microbiology
The soil is that part of the earth crust or earth that supports plant life. It is the region of the earth surface from which plants and crops derive their nutrients and support. The environment of the soil contains different array of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa and actinomycetes. These microbes play a variety
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Environmental & Soil Microbiology
Quality control strains (or reference strains)are typed cultures of microorganisms with known antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and which are used to ensure consistency, accuracy and reproducibility of a particular susceptibility test. They are important in any disk diffusion test because susceptibility tests are affected by plethora of factors such as incubation temperature, size of the test
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Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) & Antibiogram
McFarland Turbidity Standard is an important technique performed in the microbiology laboratory especially when carrying out antimicrobial susceptibility studies. It is a turbid solution that contains a mixture of barium salt, distilled water and tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (H2SO4). McFarland turbidity standard is used to compare and balance the turbidity of both the test and control
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Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) & Antibiogram
Isoniazid or isonicotinyl hydrazine (INH) is a first-line antibiotic used for the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), a droplet bacterial infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is a highly infectious diseases that is mainly spread via the respiratory tract of infected persons to susceptible human hosts through sneezes, cough and saliva or aerosols that contain the
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Antimicrobial Agents & Antibiotics, Pharmaceutical Microbiology