Bio-Rad Microbial Culturing Module - Manual (Page 11)

7
Glossary
Agar — Agar is a jelly-like substance obtained from seaweed. It is made of linked sugars (a
polysaccharide) and is used to make medium for growing bacteria.
Ampicillin — Ampicillin is a penicillin-like bactericidal antibiotic that inhibits the synthesis of the
peptidoglycan component of bacterial cells walls especially in gram-positive bacteria but also in
some gram-negative bacteria such as E
. coli.
Antibiotic — An antibiotic is a chemical that prevents or reduces the growth of bacteria or
other microbes.
Bacteria — Bacteria are single-cell micro-organisms with no nucleus.
Bactericidal — An antibiotic or other agent that kills bacteria is termed to be bactericidal.
Bacteriostatic — An antibiotic or other agent that prevents the growth of bacteria is termed to
be bacteriostatic.
Binary fission — Most bacteria reproduce asexually by duplicating their DNA and dividing into
two equal halves.
Clone — A clone is a group of genetically identical organisms.
Colony — A bacterial colony is a group of bacteria on growth media that usually have grown
from a single bacterium. A colony is thus a clone of identical organisms.
E. coli — Escherichia coli is a gram negative facultative anaerobic bacillus bacterium. It inhabits
the intestines of animals and humans and may benefit them by producing vitamin K and
preventing the spread of harmful bacteria. Harmless genetically weakened forms of
E. coli
such as the HB101 strain used in this kit are used in many scientific applications. Normally E. coli
is harmless but a few strains such O157:H7 can cause disease.
LB — Luria Bertani broth (sometimes called Lysogeny broth) is composed of yeast extract,
tryptone and sodium chloride and is commonly used to culture bacteria.
Penicillin — Penicillin is a bactericidal antibiotic that inhibits the synthesis of the peptidoglycan
component of bacterial cell walls especially in gram-positive bacteria. Penicillin was discovered
by Alexander Fleming in 1928, and was the first antibiotic to be used medically.
Petri dish — Petri dishes are small round flat containers made of glass or plastic. They are
commonly used to hold media used to culture microbes. Petri dishes were invented by
microbiologist Julius Petri, an assistant to Robert Koch.