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Asked by: Gavin Prisha
medical health infectious diseasesHow do you isolate a single colony of bacteria?
Also, what is a single colony of bacteria?
To have single bacteria colony, one method is to streak bacteria around the petri plate, working in a circle and diluting the bacterial population as you go. The microbiological loop is either flamed, or a new loop is used.
Also to know is, why is the isolation of a single colony important?
It is important because you want to have a pure colony, you don't want mixed colonies, you essentially want to study one genera of bacteria not multiple. This is important to study the genes of that genera of bacteria or the specific characteristics of that bacteria.
Each colony started as one bacterium. When you swabbed, you gave it what it needed like food and water. By the time you can see a colony it has about 1 million bacteria. Review: What is a colony?