International A Level Biology / Microbiology

Core practical 13: growth of microorganisms in liquid culture

Edexcel International A Level Biology (YBI11), chapter 17: Microbiology, specification point 6.4. Part of the full course.

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This practical measures how a yeast population changes as it grows in liquid culture. You need to sample it fairly, control the conditions, calculate cell numbers and use safe handling.

More lessons in Microbiology

• Bacteria and viruses compared
• Lytic and latent infections
• The bacterial growth curve
• Calculating exponential growth and the growth rate constant
• Culturing microorganisms with aseptic technique
• Measuring growth: cell counts and dilution plating
• Measuring growth: turbidity and mass
• How pathogens enter and how the body keeps them out
• Tuberculosis: how Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes disease
• HIV: how the virus infects and leads to AIDS