Bacterial Cell Culture Protocols

In this protocol, bacterial cells are lysed by being subjected to short, intense treatments with ultrasound, which breaks the cell walls and shears the DNA into sizes that will not affect the viscosity of the samples. Note that this method causes some denaturation of the samples. The resulting lysate is ready for preclearing. - [Read Immunoprecipitation: Lysing Bacteria by Sonication Protocol]

The growth conditions of microbial cell cultures and the time of sample collection should be optimized and standardized when growing cells for protein extraction. Because cells may excrete proteases and other extracellular enzymes, and compounds in the medium may interfere with extraction, wash cultures with an isotonic buffer, such as PBS or sucrose before solubilization. - [Read Extraction and Solubilization of Total Protein from Microorganisms Protocol]

Protocol for examination of bacterial colonies. - [Read Examination of Bacterial Colonies Protocol]

Protocol for measurement of cell mass by turbidity. - [Read Cell Mass by Measurement of Turbidity Protocol]