Practical 1 - Aseptic technique and handling bacteria Flashcards
What is sub-culturing?
Sub-culturing is the aseptic transfer of microorganisms from a culture to a fresh medium
What is aseptic technique?
Aseptic technique refers to a procedure that is performed under sterile conditions.
What does sterile mean?
free from bacteria or other living microorganisms
How many sub-culturing procedures are there?
four
List the four sub-culturing procedures.
Solid to solid
Solid to liquid
Liquid to solid
Liquid to Liquid
What is the solid to solid sub-culturing procedure?
The transfer of a microbe from an agar slope or plate culture to an agar plate
What is the solid to liquid sub-culturing procedure?
The transfer of microbes from an agar slope or plate culture to a broth
What is the liquid to solid sub-culturing procedure?
The transfer of microbes from a broth culture to an agar slope or plate
What is the liquid to liquid sub-culturing procedure?
The transfer of microbes from a broth culture to a broth
The use of aseptic technique minimises the risk of…
contamination of cultures as well as cultures escaping to the environment
How must the wire/inoculating loop be sterilised?
By flame sterilisation
Why must the inoculating loop be passed through a blue flame until red hot?
To make sure that any contaminating bacterial spores are destroyed
How often should you flame the loop?
Before and after the transfer of microbes
What is a pure culture?
Cultures that contain only one type of microorganism
The streak technique allows you to
produce discrete colonies
