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species are markedly stable. The characteristic morphology of a microbial colony usually points to and tentatively suggests a particular type of
microorganism upon examination of gross morphology. Therefore, any identification scheme for a microbial isolate should start with a thorough
description of the characteristics of colonies. Tentative identification of type of organism (bacterial or fungal) and suspected genera or species,
based on colonial morphology, may help early exclusion of a wide range of other microbial types thus reducing the number of potential candidates
in the subsequent identification steps. Furthermore, colonial morphology is important in recognizing mutational changes in the population which
take place upon repeated subculturing of microbial strains. Mutant colonies usually show alterations in colonial properties such as surface, texture,
or color, which can be easily differentiated from the wild type.
A description of colony characteristics usually includes the shape (form), margin, elevation, optical properties, texture, and pigmentation of the
colonies.
This original Flash animation illustrates various colonial aspects in simple and colorful presentation. It is intended as an illustrative teaching tool in
the microbiology laboratory.
Further credits:
Authors
Hussein Shoeb
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University
Cairo
Egypt
Email: shoeb@bostany.com
© American Society for Microbiology, Washington DC