Microbiology Procedure

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Enumeration of Microorganisms in Air

	Enumeration of Microorganisms in Air - There are several methods, which require special devices, designed for the enumeration of microorganisms in air. The most important ones are solid and liquid impingement devices, filtration, sedimentation, centrifugation, electrostatic precipitation, etc. However, none of these devices collects and counts all the microorganisms in the air sample tested. Some microbial cells are destroyed and some entirely pass through in all the processes. Some of the methods are described below.
Impingement in liquids: In this method, the air drawn is through a very small opening or a capillary tube and bubbled through the liquid. The organisms get trapped in the liquid medium. Aliquots of the liquid are then plated to determine its microbial content. Aliquots of the broth are then plated to determine microbial content. Impingement on solids: In this method, the microorganisms are collected, or impinged directly on the solid surface of agar medium. Colonies develop on the medium where the organism impinges.
Several devices are used, of which the settling-plate technique is the simplest, In this method the cover of the pertridish containing an. agar medium is removed, and the agar surface is exposed to the air for several minutes. A certain number of colonies develop on incubation of the petridish. Each colony represents particle carrying microorganisms. Since the technique does not record the volume of air actually sampled, it gives only a rough estimate. However, it does give information about the kind of microorganisms in a particular area. Techniques wherein a measured. Volume of air is sampled have also been developed. These are sieve and slit type devices. A sieve device has a large number of small holes in a metal cover, under which is located a petridish containing an agar medium.
A measured volume of air is drawn, through these small holes. Airborne particles impinge upon the agar surface. The plates are incubated and the colonies counted. In a slit device the air is drawn through a very narrow slit onto a petridish containing agar medium. The slit is approximately the length of the petridish. The petridish is rotated at a particular speed under the slit One complete turn is made during the sampling operation. Filtration: The membrane filter devices are adaptable to direct collection of microorganisms by filtration of air. The method is similar in principle to that described for water sampling.

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