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Streak Plate Method: Patterns, Procedure, Principle
 Streak Plate Method: Patterns, Procedure, Principle
Contents

Streak Plate Method Overview

There are two types of microbial culture such as mixed culture and pure culture. The mixed culture contains
two or more species while the pure culture contains only a single species.

During the identification of a microorganism, the first and important step is to isolate the individual species
from a mixed sample. This is mainly done by the streak plate method, therefore streak plate method is
an isolation technique.

The streak plate method is widely employed and vital laboratory technique used to obtain discrete colonies
and pure culture. This method was first developed by 2 bacteriologists Loeffler and Gaffkey in the laboratory
of Robert Koch (refer to slide 7).

In this method a sterile inoculating loop is first dipped into a diluted bacterial culture; then the culture-
containing loop is streaked on the surface of a solidified agar plate to make a series of parallel, non-overlapping
streaks.
As the culture is diluted before streaking on solid agar, the organism number will decrease by the
third or fourth quadrant. Therefore only a few bacterial cells are transferred on the solidified agar
medium as a result it will give discrete colony forming units (CFUs).

Because some colonies form from individual cells and others from pairs, chains, or clusters of cells,
the term colony-forming unit (CFU) is a more correct description of the colony origin.

During the streaking an agar plate different patterns are used, depends on the source of inoculum
and the microbiologist’s preference. The patterns of streaking patterns range from simple to more
complex, these are designed to separate deposited cells (CFUs) on the agar surface so individual
cells (CFUs) grow into isolated colonies.

A quadrant streak pattern is used for samples suspected of high cell density, while a simple zigzag
pattern used for samples containing lower cell densities.
Objective of Streak Plate Method
The main purpose of this practice is to obtain colonies of microorganisms that are pure. i,e.
growth derived from a single cell/spore.

Principle of Streak Plate Method

The streak plate method is a rapid qualitative isolation method. The techniques commonly used for
isolation of discrete colonies initially require that the number of organisms in the inoculums be
reduced. It is essentially a dilution technique that involves spreading a loopful of culture over the
surface of an agar plate. The resulting diminution of the population size ensures that, following
inoculation, individual cells will be sufficiently far apart on the surface of the agar medium to effect a
separation of the different species present.

In the streaking procedure, a sterile loop or swab is used to obtain an uncontaminated microbial
culture. The process is called “picking colonies” when it is done from an agar plate with isolated
colonies and is transferred to a new agar or gelatin plate using a sterile loop or needle.
https://www.slideshare.net/doctorrao/skills-in-medical-microbiology
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100112310
7 STREAK PLATE METHOD BEST
PRACTICES by Microbiologics | Clinical, Food, Pharmaceutical, Water | 3 comments

PUBLISH DATE: APRIL 11, 2019

https://blog.microbiologics.com/7-streak-plate-method-best-practices/
 Streak Plating Patterns
https://microbiologynote.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Different-Methods-of-Streak-Plate-2048x1152.jpg
7 STREAK PLATE METHOD BEST
PRACTICES
by Microbiologics | Clinical, Food, Pharmaceutical, Water | 3 comments

Microbiologists use the streak plate method every day to

isolate colonies. Streaking may seem like Microbiology 101,
but bad habits can lead to errors and contamination. Follow
these best practices to get your streaking technique down to
a science.
1. Label first, streak second. Clearly labeling your plates to
identify the microorganism only takes a few seconds and will
help you avoid a big headache later.
2. Keep the agar dry. Make sure the agar plates are free of
droplets of condensed moisture. If moisture is present, leave the
plates at room temperature overnight or place them in a laminar
flow hood to dry.
3. Avoid the edge. Contact with the edge of the plate can
introduce contaminates to the agar. Avoid touching the edge of
the plate with the loop while streaking or inoculating the agar
with the swab.
7 STREAK PLATE METHOD BEST
PRACTICES PUBLISH DATE: APRIL 11, 2019
by Microbiologics | Clinical, Food, Pharmaceutical, Water | 3 comments https://blog.microbiologics.com/7-streak-plate-method-best-practices/

4. A little goes a long way. Only a small amount of inoculum is needed. Use isolated colonies if
taking an inoculum from another plate or use only 5 to 10µl from a suspension.
5. Gouging is no good. Streak lightly in smooth, rapid movements to avoid gouging the agar plate.
Gouged agar won’t produce as many colonies (or look nearly as beautiful as a carefully streaked
plate).
6. Don’t forget to sterilize. Always use sterile equipment to spread the inoculum. Flame the loop or
use a new disposable loop after you streak each quadrant. Using a new or sterilized loop allows you
to effectively dilute the inoculum on the plate and obtain isolated colonies by spreading the inoculum
thinner and more evenly.
7. Hold your breath. Observe open plates at a safe distance from your face. Breathing on plates is
an obvious mistake all microbiologists are trained avoid, but it’s still a common cause of
contamination in any laboratory.
 The streak plate method can be used when
starting a Microbiologics product such as
a KWIK-STIK™ or when simply sub-culturing a
colony from one agar plate to another.
Freshly isolated colonies should be used
when performing biochemical, genetic, or
antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Here are
the steps we follow in our laboratory to
successfully perform the streak plate
method:

https://blog.microbiologics.com/7-streak-plate-
method-best-practices/

https://blog.microbiologics.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Streak-Plate-Illustrated-Instructions-1.jpg
https://image1.slideserve.com/2742784/improper-streak-plating-technique-n.jpg
https://image.slidesharecdn.com/pureculturetechnique-151125190942-lva1-app6892/95/pure-culture-
technique-5-638.jpg?cb=1448478703
https://microbiologynote.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Quadrant-Streak-
Method-768x1152.jpg
More information may be access thru this website:

Quadrant Streaking Method:

https://biologyreader.com/quadrant-streaking-method.html