_______ are the primary vehicle responsible for the transmission of microbial diseases of the gastrointestinal system

food products

heterotrophic plate count

used to determine the number of viable bacteria in a food sample. the larger the count, the greater the likelihood that specific pathogens capable of causing disease will be present and also that the food will spoil.

Normally, raw hamburger should not contain over _____ bacteria per gram

10^6

One of the limitations of the heterotrophic plate count

only bacteria capable of growing in the culture medium under the environmental conditions provided will be counted

heterotrophic

requiring organic carbon

standard plate count

a procedure that allows microbiologists to estimate the population density in a liquid sample by plating a very dilute portion of that sample and counting the number of colonies it produces

serial dilution

a series of controlled transfers down a line of dilution blanks. the series begins with a sample containing an unknown concentration of cells (density) and ends with a very dilute mixture containing only a few cells.

dilution blanks

tubes containing a known volume of sterile diluent - water, saline, or buffer

If a dilution is 10^-4, the proportion of the original sample inside the tube would be what?

1/10000th of the total volume inside.

When 0.1 mL of a 10^-4 solution is transferred to a plate, what is the volume of the sample in the plate?

0.1 mL x 10^-4 = 10^-5 mL

countable plate

contains between 30-300 colonies

Plates with fewer than 30 colonies are ___

TFTC (too few to count)

Plates with more than 300 colonies are ____

TMTC (too many to count)

Dilutions can be calculated using the following formula

V1D1 = V2D2

V1 and D1 are what?

The volume and dilution of the concentrated broth

V2 and D2 are what?

the volume and dilution of the completed dilution

Undiluted samples are always expressed as ____

1

To calculate the dilution of a 1 mL sample transferred to 9 mL of dilutent, the permuted formula would be:

D2 = (V1D1/V2) = [(1.0 mL x 1) / 10 mL] = (1/10) = 10^-1

Formula for calculating original cell density (OCD)

OCD = CFU / (D x V)

D is the dilution as written on the dilution tube from which the inoculum comes.

V is the volume transferred to the plate.

Colony Forming Unit (CFU)

the number of colonies that develop on the plate

Why is CFU the preferred term?

Because colonies could develop from single cells or from groups of cells, depending on the typical cellular arrangement of the organism.

Original sample volume

density and volume from the OCD = CFU / (D x V)

it becomes OCD = CFU / original sample volume

When is the sample volume written on the plate?

at the time of inoculation

viable count

provides an estimate of actual living cells in the sample

What bacteria will we be using in this lab?

Escherichia coli (E. coli)

In this lab we will inoculate the plates using what technique?

spread plate technique

We will count bacterial colonies using what?

colony counter