Canadian Medical Guide > Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment > Investigative Techniques > Clinical Laboratory Techniques > Microbiological Techniques > Colony Count, Microbial Terms and Definitions

Colony Count, Microbial

Medical Definition:	Enumeration by direct count of viable, isolated bacterial, archaeal, or fungal cells or spores capable of growth on solid culture media. Each colony (i.e., microbial colony-forming unit) represents the progeny of a single cell in the original inoculum. The method is used routinely by environmental microbiologists for quantifying organisms in air, food, and water; by clinicians for measuring patients' microbial load; and in antimocrobial drug testing.
Guide Notes:	coord NIM with organism /growth or /isol (IM) as appropriate
Also Called:	Agar Dilution Count,Bacterial Count,Fungal Count,Pour Plate Count,Spore Count,Spread Plate Count,Streak Plate Count
Previously Indexed:	Bacteriological Techniques (1967-1988),Microbiological Techniques (1978-1988)

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