BRAINCAKECulturing Microorganisms
To grow (culture) microorganisms in the laboratory they must be given a suitable culture medium and suitable conditions.
Culture media contain the nutrients the organisms need: a carbon source (often glucose), a nitrogen source (amino acids or proteins), minerals, and sometimes vitamins. The medium can be:
• nutrient broth, a liquid, usually in a bottle or flask, or
• nutrient agar, a jelly poured into Petri dishes, which gives a solid surface.
Inoculating the medium: microorganisms are transferred with a sterile wire inoculating loop, a sterile pipette or a spreader.
• Streak plate: the loop is drawn across the agar in zig-zags, so the cells thin out and grow into separate colonies. Each colony comes from a single cell.
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All 21 lessons in Cloning and Biotechnology · All OCR A-level Biology topics