Enumerating the Viable and Total Cell Concentration of a Population

Essay

Enumerating the viable and total cell concentration of a population of a microbial isolate can be a laborious task for a microbiologist, especially when studying the same isolate for several years. It is often more practical to determine the relationship between optical density (OD) and cell concentration. Once this relationship (determined by a standard curve) is determined, the OD of an isolate in a broth can be used to determine the populationʹs concentration. Why must a standard curve be prepared for each isolate when using OD measurements to determine cell concentration? Also describe an experiment that would generate this type of standard curve.