what is a pure culture in microbiology ?
Question
what is a pure culture in microbiology
Liza E. Despres
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what is a pure culture in microbiology
Answer ( 1 )
Definition
A pure culture is a population of microorganisms that all descend from a single cell and therefore are genetically identical to each other.
How it is obtained
In the lab we streak a mixed sample on solid agar, pick one isolated colony, and transfer it to fresh medium. That colony started from one cell, so the subculture is pure.
Why it matters
Studying a single specie removes the noise of cross feeding and competition, letting you measure morphology, metabolism, antibiotic sensitivity and genome sequence without interference from other microbes.
Limitations
Some bacteria refuse to grow alone because they need metabolites from neighbours. For those we use co culture or add growth factors to mimic their natural partners.
So, in short, a pure culture is just one microbial species growing by itself, a basic tool in microbiology since Koch’s time.