Agar plate
| Uses |
Microbiological culture Art |
|---|---|
| Related items |
Petri dish Growth medium |
An agar plate is a Petri dish that contains a growth medium (typically agar plus nutrients) used to culture microorganisms or small plants like the moss Physcomitrella patens.
Selective growth compounds may also be added to the media, such as antibiotics.
Individual microorganisms placed on the plate will grow into individual colonies, each a clone genetically identical to the individual ancestor organism (except for the low, unavoidable rate of mutation). Thus, the plate can be used either to estimate the concentration of organisms in a liquid culture or a suitable dilution of that culture using a colony counter, or to generate genetically pure cultures from a mixed culture of genetically different organisms, using a technique known as "streaking". In this technique, a drop of the culture on the end of a thin, sterile loop of wire, sometimes known as an inoculator, is streaked across the surface of the agar leaving organisms behind, a higher number at the beginning of the streak and a lower number at the end. At some point during a successful "streak", the number of organisms deposited will be such that distinct individual colonies will grow in that area which may be removed for further culturing, using another sterile loop.
In 1881, Fanny Hesse, who was working as a technician for her husband Walther Hesse in the laboratory of Robert Koch, suggested agar as an effective setting agent, since it had been commonplace in jam making for some time.
Like other growth media, the formulations of agar used in plates may be classified as either "defined" or "undefined"; a defined medium is synthesized from individual chemicals required by the organism so the exact molecular composition is known, whereas an undefined medium is made from natural products such as yeast extract, where the precise composition is unknown.
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