Question

What are the methods adopted to preserve microbial culture? Explain the storage agar slope method in detail.

Answer 1

Answer:

1. freezing
2. Heating / boiling
3. sun drying
4. chemical methods

Answer 2

Answer:

Microbial culture can be preserved by slowing the death rate and keeping at least some cells viable. This can be done in two ways:

1. Lowering the temperature of the culture such that chemical reactions are stopped or slowed. This can be achieved by preserving the culture in refrigerators, freezers, liquid nitrogen freezers.

2. Sublimation of water from the culture by the process of lyophilisation such that the water content is reduced.

The storage agar slope method is a method in which the agar is solidified in the form of slants and then storing the culture at room temperature or refrigerator for use in the future. This is also done to preserve the bacterial culture.