Which of the following is a common method used for bacterial culture?

Which of the following is a common method used for bacterial culture?

• A. Pour plate method
• B. Fermentation method
• C. Streak plate method
• D. Filtration method

Answer: (C)

The streak plate method is a commonly employed technique for isolating pure bacterial cultures from a mixed sample. This method involves the use of a sterile instrument, typically an inoculating loop, to spread a diluted sample of bacteria across the surface of an agar plate. By systematically streaking the loop across the agar in a specific pattern, it creates isolated colonies of bacteria. This is achieved by decreasing the density of bacteria as the loop is spread over the surface, allowing for the separation of individual bacterial cells as they multiply. The significance of the streak plate method lies in its simplicity and effectiveness. It can accurately isolate single colonies for further study or identification, which is fundamental in microbiology for characterizing bacterial species, antibiotic susceptibility testing, and various research applications. Other methods mentioned, while they can also pertain to bacterial culture, do not primarily focus on the isolation of pure cultures in the same straightforward manner as the streak plate method. The pour plate method, for instance, involves mixing bacteria with molten agar and then allowing it to solidify, which is useful for quantifying the number of viable cells but does not isolate colonies effectively. The fermentation method is more aligned with studying metabolic processes rather than isolating bacterial cultures. Filtration might be used to separate bacteria in

The streak plate method is a commonly employed technique for isolating pure bacterial cultures from a mixed sample. This method involves the use of a sterile instrument, typically an inoculating loop, to spread a diluted sample of bacteria across the surface of an agar plate. By systematically streaking the loop across the agar in a specific pattern, it creates isolated colonies of bacteria. This is achieved by decreasing the density of bacteria as the loop is spread over the surface, allowing for the separation of individual bacterial cells as they multiply.

The significance of the streak plate method lies in its simplicity and effectiveness. It can accurately isolate single colonies for further study or identification, which is fundamental in microbiology for characterizing bacterial species, antibiotic susceptibility testing, and various research applications.

Other methods mentioned, while they can also pertain to bacterial culture, do not primarily focus on the isolation of pure cultures in the same straightforward manner as the streak plate method. The pour plate method, for instance, involves mixing bacteria with molten agar and then allowing it to solidify, which is useful for quantifying the number of viable cells but does not isolate colonies effectively. The fermentation method is more aligned with studying metabolic processes rather than isolating bacterial cultures. Filtration might be used to separate bacteria in