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Mutant Detection definitions

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  • Direct Selection
    Method promoting growth of only selectable mutants, making identification straightforward since non-mutants do not survive.
  • Indirect Selection
    Technique where both mutants and non-mutants grow, requiring identification of mutants among a mixed population.
  • Auxotroph
    Mutant requiring additional growth factors not needed by the parent strain, unable to grow on minimal media.
  • Prototroph
    Non-mutant organism capable of growing on minimal media without supplemental nutrients.
  • Non-selectable Mutant
    Variant that cannot be isolated by direct selection and must be identified using indirect methods.
  • Replica Plating
    Technique transferring colonies from a master plate to multiple media types to distinguish mutants based on growth patterns.
  • Master Plate
    Original agar plate containing both mutants and non-mutants, used as the source for colony transfer in replica plating.
  • Sterile Velvet
    Fabric used to transfer colony imprints from the master plate to replicate agar plates in replica plating.
  • Nutrient Agar
    Growth medium containing additional factors, supporting both mutants and non-mutants, used in replica plating.
  • Minimal Media
    Agar medium with only essential nutrients, allowing growth of non-mutants but not mutants requiring extra factors.
  • Colony Imprint
    Pattern of microbial colonies transferred from one surface to another, preserving spatial arrangement for comparison.
  • Selectable Mutant
    Variant that can be isolated directly due to its unique ability to grow under specific selective conditions.
  • Incubation
    Process of maintaining plates under suitable conditions to allow visible colony growth for analysis.
  • Growth Factor
    Essential nutrient required by certain mutants for survival and proliferation, absent in minimal media.
  • Replicate Plate
    Agar plate inoculated from the master plate via sterile velvet, used to compare growth under different conditions.