Microbiology

Microbiology is the study of bacteria, yeasts, parasites and more

Microbiological assays examine mechanisms in bacteria, viruses, and parasites. They are essential for understanding infectious diseases, their spread, treatment, and prevention. Here you can find out how well-suited BMG LABTECH plate readers are for all microbiological approaches.

Many assays assess the growth or reproduction of microbes. Bacteria, fungi and parasites are mainly quantified using the absorbance measurement mode, while the replication of viruses is typically measured by luminescence. All growth and replication assays, including those for bacterial growth, need to be measured over time in order to determine growth rates. Similarly, the effects of bacterial growth can also be determined over time, such as the increasing cytotoxicity induced by intracellular bacterial growth. Time courses can be measured with all BMG LABTECH microplate readers. In addition, the instruments regulates the incubation temperature and atmosphere to desired O2 and CO2 values, generating optimal growth conditions. Next to growth assays, microplate readers can also be used to quantify metabolic products of microorganisms like shown in the application note: Fluorescence analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by six isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus.

BMG LABTECH's multi-mode plate readers can do much more than just growth measurements: they measure how a virus docks onto a cell, how viruses can be neutralized, how bacteria communicate  with each other, what helps against biofilms, whether substances have antibiotic effects (including measurements to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (or MICs), minimum bactericidal concentrations (or MBCs), novel antibiotics  and much more. Learn more about virus detection methods and how to detect a virus with a microplate reader.

Types of viruses

Virology

Vaccine and drug development rely on tools to study viruses. Replication, neutralization and binding assays: this is how they are performed on BMG LABTECH plate readers.
Microscopic image of growing molds or mold fungus and spores

Mycology & yeasts

Some fungi can cause illness. Yeast instead is valuable in biological research and production. Learn how plate readers examine useful and harmful organisms.
Streptococcus pneumonia bacteria cells

Bacteriology

While widely regarded as pathogens, bacteria are essential for human health and indispensable in the development of synthetic biology.
Plasmodium falciparum

Parasitology

Parasites cause one million deaths each year. Our readers help to understand and treat diseases caused by parasites like Plasmodium, Leishmania or Schistosoma.

Resources

Search our resources section for information about specific applications, literature citations, videos, blog articles and many other publications. Many of the resources provided are associated with current and previous instrument models and versions.

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