Microbiological terms : MIC, MBC, CFU, PFU, MF

Minimum Inhibitory Concentration, Minimum Bactericidal Concentration, Plaque Forming Units, Colony Forming Units, McFarland Standard

1. Applied Microbiology MIC, MBC, CFU, PFU, McFarland ZAG

2. Some Terms Related to Antibiotics MIC : Minimum Inhibitory Concentration This is the lowest concentration of an antimicrobial drug that prevents visible growth of a microorganism after overnight incubation with media . MBC : Minimum Bactericidal Concentration The minimum bactericidal concentration is the lowest concentration of an antibacterial agent required to kill a particular bacterium .

3. McFarland unit McFarland Standards are used to standardize the approximate number of bacteria in a liquid suspension by comparing the turbidity of the test suspension with that of the McFarland Standard . A McFarland Standard is a chemical solution of barium chloride and sulfuric acid; the reaction between these two chemicals results in the production of a fine precipitate, barium sulfate. When shaken well, the turbidity of a McFarland Standard is visually comparable to a bacterial suspension of known concentration.

4. McFarland Turbidity Standard There are different McFarland units, according to the concentration of Cell density (Number of bacterial cells).  1.5x 10^8 colony forming units (CFU/ml ) are present in 0.5 McFarland Units. These are also Commercially available.

5. CFU : Colony Forming Units colony-forming unit  ( CFU  or  cfu ) is a measure of viable bacterial or fungal cells. CFU measures only viable cells. results are given as CFU/ mL (colony-forming units per milliliter) for liquids, and CFU/g (colony-forming units per gram) for solids. CFU can be calculated using miles and misra method.

6. Plaque Forming Units In virology, a  plaque - forming unit  (PFU) is a measure of the number of particles capable of  forming plaques  per  unit  volume, such as virus particles.

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