Effectiveness of glass beads for plating cell cultures

Alisa Prusokiene, Michelle Hawkins, Conrad A. Nieduszynski, and Renata Retkute
Phys. Rev. E 103, 052410 – Published 17 May 2021

Abstract

Cell plating, the spreading out of a liquid suspension of cells on a surface followed by colony growth, is a common laboratory procedure in microbiology. Despite this, the exact impact of its parameters on colony growth has not been extensively studied. A common protocol involves the shaking of glass beads within a Petri dish containing solid growth media. We investigated the effects of multiple parameters in this protocol: the number of beads, the shape of movement, and the number of movements. Standard suspensions of Escherichia coli were spread while varying these parameters to assess their impact on colony growth. Results were assessed by a variety of metrics: the number of colonies, the mean distance between closest colonies, and the variability and uniformity of their spatial distribution. Finally, we devised a mathematical model of shifting billiard to explain the heterogeneities in the observed spatial patterns. Exploring the parameters that affect the most fundamental techniques in microbiology allows us to better understand their function, giving us the ability to precisely control their outputs for our exact needs.

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  • Received 16 November 2020
  • Revised 9 April 2021
  • Accepted 23 April 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.103.052410

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics of Living SystemsInterdisciplinary PhysicsParticles & FieldsNonlinear Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Alisa Prusokiene

  • Plant and Microbial Sciences, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, United Kingdom and Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom

Michelle Hawkins

  • Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, United Kingdom

Conrad A. Nieduszynski

  • The Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UZ, United Kingdom

Renata Retkute*

  • Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, United Kingdom

  • *rr614@cam.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 5 — May 2021

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