Method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on a microbial colony

A method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on one or more microbial colonies supported on a growth medium at least a portion of which is incorporated with said growth-altering agent, said method comprising the steps of:

• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum containing one or more viable colony-forming units;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into said microbial colonies;
• quantifying one or more characteristics of one or more said microbial colonies exposed to said growth-altering agent;
• and
• comparing said one or more characteristics to a control reference to determine the effects of said growth-altering agent on said microbial colonies.

A method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on one or more microbial colonies supported on a growth medium, where said growth-altering agent is incorporated into at least a portion of said growth medium, said method comprising the steps of:

• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum having one or more viable colony-forming units;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into said microbial colonies;
• periodically quantifying one or more characteristics of said one or more microbial colonies exposed to said growth-altering agent;
• and
• evaluating said periodic quantifications of said characteristics to determine the effects of said growth-altering agent on said microbial colonies.

A method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on one or more microbial colonies supported on a growth medium at least a portion of which is incorporated with said growth-altering agent, said method comprising the steps of:

• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum having one or more viable colony-forming units;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into said microbial colonies;
• periodically imaging one or more of said microbial colonies exposed to said growth-altering agent to reveal characteristics of said microbial colonies;
• and
• evaluating said characteristics to determine the effects of said growth-altering agent on said microbial colonies.

A method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on a biological sample inoculated into a solid or semi-solid growth medium and incubated to produce microbial colonies replicated from colony-forming units present in said sample, said method comprising the steps of:

• incorporating said growth-altering agent into at least a portion of said growth medium;
• imaging said microbial colonies exposed to said growth-altering agent during a period of time when substantially all of said microbial colonies are isolated from one another;
• and
• evaluating characteristics of said microbial colonies to determine the effects of said growth-altering agent on said microbial colonies.

A method for determining the mechanism of action of a growth-altering agent on one or more microbial colonies supported on a growth medium, comprising the steps of:

• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum having one or more viable colony-forming units;
• incorporating said growth-altering agent into at least a portion of said growth medium;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into said microbial colonies;
• periodically imaging said one or more of said microbial colonies exposed to said growth-altering agent;
• and
• evaluating said periodic images to determine the mechanism of action of said growth-altering agent.

A method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on an organism, comprising the steps of:

• incorporating said growth-altering agent into at least a portion of a solid or semi-solid growth medium;
• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum having one or more viable colony-forming units from said microorganism;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into microcolonies of said organism;
• imaging one or more of said microcolonies exposed to said growth-altering agent a plurality of times, thereby creating chronological images of said one or more microcolonies;
• and
• evaluating said chronological images to determine the effects of said growth-altering agent on said organism.

A method for determining the effects of a growth-altering agent on one or more microbial colonies, comprising the steps of:

• providing one of a solid or a semi-solid growth medium;
• incorporating said growth-altering agent into at least a portion of said growth medium;
• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum having a plurality of colony-forming units, wherein said colony-forming units are disposed on said growth medium spaced apart from one another a distance typically not less than 5μapart and not greater than 100μapart;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into said microbial colonies;
• quantifying one or more characteristics of one or more of said microbial colonies exposed to said growth-altering agent prior to a majority of said microcolonies becoming confluent with one another;
• and
• evaluating said characteristics to determine the effects of said growth-altering agent on said microbial colonies.

A method for detecting the presence of a growth-altering agent within a sample, comprising the steps of:

• providing one of a solid or a semi-solid growth medium;
• incorporating said sample into at least a portion of said growth medium;
• inoculating said growth medium with an inoculum having one or more viable colony-forming units;
• incubating said colony-forming units in a manner likely to cause said colony-forming units to replicate into one or more microbial colonies;
• quantifying one or more characteristics of one or more of said microbial colonies exposed to said sample;
• and
• evaluating said characteristics to detect the presence of said growth-altering agent.