ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates upon the procedures that should be used to isolate a particular microbe from its natural environment. It is, moreover, important to consider in detail any plans to isolate an organism which is thought to be representative of a study environment. There is much to be said for direct examination of the habitat under investigation — either by bright-field microscopy or with the scanning electron microscope. There are two ways of encouraging the growth of micro-organisms on the solid medium of choice. Small fragments of the solid habitat or a small volume of the medium from an aquatic habitat can be spread over the growth medium. The other way is to shake the solid medium with sterile distilled water, then spread a small volume of the resulting aqueous suspension over the growth medium. There is a long tradition in mycology of using baits to capture fungi from particular environments.
