Equipment and Materials (DRAFT)¶
Draft
This page is a draft. The list is still being completed, and links to shops and resources are still to be added. Items marked (suggested) are not yet confirmed as part of my kit. Everything here is experimental home practice: read the disclaimer first.
What I use for the process described in Isolating Bugs. Equipment is kept and reused; consumables are used up or replaced.
Equipment¶
| Item | Used for | Spec / notes | Link / store |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microscopy | |||
| Microscope | Dregs, picks and full-slide checks | Must reach 1000x; phase contrast used on this wiki | |
| Objectives | Magnification | 100x oil immersion needed for 1000x | |
| Camera or camera mount | Photos of cells for the records | ||
| Magnifying glass | Finding and picking lone colonies | ||
| Weighing and measuring | |||
| Lab scale, 0.001 g | Weighing indicators, selective agents, small media batches | 0.001 g resolution | |
| Kitchen scale | Weighing DME, agar and larger batches | ||
| Thermometer (suggested) | Incubation and cooling temperatures | ||
| pH meter or pH strips (suggested) | Checking acidified media and wort | ||
| Refractometer or hydrometer (suggested) | Wort gravity for media and mini-beers | ||
| Measuring cylinder (suggested) | Measuring water for media and dilution blanks | ||
| Media preparation and sterilisation | |||
| Pressure cooker | Sterilising media, tubes and water | ~100 kPa (1 bar) gauge, ~121 °C | |
| Erlenmeyer flasks | Preparing wort, agar and starters | Borosilicate | |
| Magnetic stir bars | Mixing and dissolving media | ||
| Stir plates | Mixing media; starters | ||
| Heat-resistant gloves (suggested) | Handling hot flasks and pouring plates | ||
| Aseptic work and culture handling | |||
| Alcohol lamp | Flaming the inoculation wire and tube mouths | Burns methylated spirit | |
| Inoculation wire | Streaking plates, picking colonies | Home made | |
| Autoclavable screw-cap test tubes | Sterile water, clear wort, slants | Must survive the pressure cooker | |
| Test tube rack | Holding tubes; slanting agar | ||
| Dispenser plastic bottles | 70% ethanol, sanitiser, distilled water | ||
| Still air box (suggested) | Draught-free space for plating and picking | ||
| Lighter (suggested) | Lighting the alcohol lamp | ||
| Incubation and storage | |||
| Fridge | Storing plates, slants and slurry | Needs a partner willing to lend you space in it indefinitely | |
| Incubation space (suggested) | Holding plates and tubes at a steady temperature | ~21 °C used on this wiki | |
| Mini-beers | |||
| Small fermenters with airlocks (suggested) | Mini-beers from each isolate | ||
| Cleaning | |||
| Test-tube brushes | Cleaning tubes | ||
| Bottle brush | Cleaning flasks and bottles | ||
| Safety | |||
| Nitrile gloves (suggested) | Handling cycloheximide, antibiotics and acids | See the warning in Isolating Bugs | |
| Safety glasses (suggested) | Acids and hot liquids |
Consumables¶
| Item | Used for | Spec / notes | Link / store |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microscopy | |||
| Slides | Wet mounts | ||
| Cover slips | Wet mounts | ||
| Immersion oil | 100x objective | ||
| Lens paper | Cleaning lenses | ||
| Isopropyl alcohol | Cleaning oil off lenses and slides | ||
| Media and nutrients | |||
| Agar-agar | Solid media: plates and slants | ||
| Dried malt extract (DME) | Wort for media, enrichment and starters | ||
| Yeast extract | Nutrient supplement for media | ||
| Distilled water | Media, dilution blanks, picking tubes | ||
| Hops or hop extract | Hopped wort to hold back hop-sensitive bacteria | ||
| Indicators, acids and selective agents | |||
| Bromocresol green | pH indicator in media | As in WL Nutrient medium | |
| Lactic acid | Acidifying media | ||
| Phosphoric acid | Acidifying media | ||
| p-Coumaric acid | Phenol test: 4-vinylphenol and 4-ethylphenol production | ||
| Ferulic acid | Phenol test: 4-vinylguaiacol and 4-ethylguaiacol production | ||
| Penicillin-streptomycin (pen-strep) | Suppressing bacteria in media | Easiest to get if you have chickens or a vet friend | |
| Cycloheximide | Suppressing Saccharomyces in favour of Brett | Advanced and dangerous. 0.004 g/L in WL Differential medium | |
| Plasticware | |||
| Petri dishes | Plates | ||
| Disposable pipettes | Transfers and dilutions | ||
| Syringes with blunt needles | Measured volumes for dilutions and media | ||
| Parafilm or cling film (suggested) | Sealing plates against drying on long incubations | ||
| Sanitising and fuel | |||
| Star San | Sanitising surfaces and equipment | ||
| 70% ethanol | Surfaces, hands, tube mouths | ||
| Methylated spirit | Alcohol lamp fuel | ||
| Labelling and wrapping | |||
| Labels or masking tape | Labelling plates, tubes and slants | See the label scheme in Isolating Bugs | |
| Permanent marker | Labelling | ||
| Autoclave tape | Showing items have been through the pressure cooker | ||
| Aluminium foil | Covering flask and tube mouths for sterilising | ||
| General | |||
| Q-tips | Cleaning | ||
| Paper towels (suggested) | Wiping down with ethanol |