What is slide culture technique?

It is a rapid method of preparing fungal colonies for examination and identification. In slide cultures, we are growing the fungi directly on the slide on a thin film of agar. By doing this, there is no need to remove a portion of the fungus from a culture plate and transfer it to the slide.

Which culture techniques are used for fungi?

General purpose media that are commonly used for fungal culture are Sabouraud dextrose, malt extract and less commonly brain heart infusion medium. To prevent contamination of the medium by bacteria, chloramphenicol is used, but prevents the growth of Actinomyces, which others grows well on Sabouraud dextrose agar.

How do you make a fungal slide?

Slide Culture Preparations

1. Using a sterile blade cut out an agar block (7 x 7 mm) small enough to fit under a coverslip.
2. Flip the block up onto the surface of the agar plate.
3. Inoculate the four sides of the agar block with spores or mycelial fragments of the fungus to be grown.

What are the disadvantages of slide cultures?

The disadvantage of the Slide culture Technique As the agar medium used for Slide culture contains a limited nutrient source, fungal pathogens will survive for a short time period. Slide cultures preparation of slow-growing organisms suspected to be dimorphic pathogens such as H. capsulatum, B.

How do cultures purify fungal?

Using the same principle, a fungus can be freed from bacterial contamination by placing a small amount of the contaminated fungus source under a piece of agar block in a Petri dish. The fungus will grow through the agar and reach the upper surface free of bacteria (5; 4).

What are the disadvantages of slide culture?

What is the average incubation time for fungal contaminants?

Fungal cultures are traditionally incubated for 4 weeks or longer to maximise the recovery of slowly growing fungi.

What does a fungal culture show?

A fungal culture test helps diagnose fungal infections, a health problem caused by exposure to fungi (more than one fungus). A fungus is a type of germ that lives in air, soil and plants, and even on our own bodies.

How to prepare agar plate for slide culture?

Using a sterile blade cut out an agar block (7 x 7 mm) small enough to fit under a coverslip. Flip the block up onto the surface of the agar plate. Inoculate the four sides of the agar block with spores or mycelial fragments of the fungus to be grown. Place a flamed coverslip centrally upon the agar block.

How is slide culture used to study fungi?

Riddel’s simple method of slide culturing (Mycologia 42:265, 1950) permits fungi to be studied virtually in situ with as little disturbance as possible. A simple modification of this method using a single agar plate is described below.

How to prepare a slide for slide culture?

Place a flamed coverslip centrally upon the agar block. Incubate the plate at 26C until growth and sporulation have occurred. Remove the cover slip from the agar block. Apply a drop of 95% alcohol as a wetting agent. Gently lower the coverslip onto a small drop of Lactophenol cotton blue on a clean glass slide.

How do you inoculate a sterile microscope slide?

Add the agar block to the surface of the sterile microscope slide. With a right-angle wire, inoculate the four quadrants of the agar block with the organism and apply a sterile coverslip onto the surface of it.