Chapter 8, Problem 37E.6RQ

Summary Introduction

To determine: The number of plaque-forming units per ml in a 10^-9 dilution of a phage culture showing 204 PFUs in the agar lawn.

Introduction: The cultivation and enumeration of bacteriophages are carried out on the basis of the formation of plaques in a solid agar medium. The formation of clear zones in an agar medium is referred to as plaques. The agar medium is previously incorporated with the diluted phage sample along with the host culture. Each of the plaque formations represents the lysis of the bacterial cell, which was infected by the phage cells.