General calibration of microbial growth in microplate readers

Optical density (OD) measurements of microbial growth are one of the most common techniques used in microbiology, with applications ranging from studies of antibiotic efficacy to investigations of growth under different nutritional or stress environments, to characterization of different mutant stra...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2016-12, Vol.6 (1), p.38828-38828, Article 38828
Main Authors: Stevenson, Keiran, McVey, Alexander F, Clark, Ivan B N, Swain, Peter S, Pilizota, Teuta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Calibration
Cell number
Circuits
Colony Count, Microbial - instrumentation
Colony Count, Microbial - methods
Escherichia coli - growth & development
Microorganisms
Nephelometry and Turbidimetry
Nutrient deficiency
Optical density
Reproducibility of Results
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Summary:Optical density (OD) measurements of microbial growth are one of the most common techniques used in microbiology, with applications ranging from studies of antibiotic efficacy to investigations of growth under different nutritional or stress environments, to characterization of different mutant strains, including those harbouring synthetic circuits. OD measurements are performed under the assumption that the OD value obtained is proportional to the cell number, i.e. the concentration of the sample. However, the assumption holds true in a limited range of conditions, and calibration techniques that determine that range are currently missing. Here we present a set of calibration procedures and considerations that are necessary to successfully estimate the cell concentration from OD measurements.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep38828