ABSTRACT
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 117 Culture ........................................................................................................................................... 117
Media Types ........................................................................................................................ 118 Colonial Morphology ..................................................................................................................... 118 Gram Stain ..................................................................................................................................... 118 Biochemical Tests .......................................................................................................................... 119 Antibody Assays ............................................................................................................................ 120
Antibody Labeling Technique Variations ........................................................................... 122 Nucleic Acid Probes ....................................................................................................................... 123
Sample Amplication Methods ..........................................................................................124 Signal Amplication Methods ............................................................................................ 126
DNA Microarray Technology ........................................................................................................ 127 Electrophoresis ............................................................................................................................... 127 References ...................................................................................................................................... 128
Microbiologists have been identifying organisms since Pasteur rst realized that in addition to producing the ne wines of France, microorganisms also caused disease. Since that time, it appears as if the chief goal of diagnostic microbiology has been to come up with the one test that would separate the helpful organisms from those that are harmful. The unfortunate thing is that every time someone developed this ultimate test, it was eventually discovered that there was always some overlap. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the major methods being used to identify microorganisms in the laboratory today.
