Question

The main advantage of a spread plate over a streak plate is that the spread plate __________.

Answer 1

The main advantage of a spread plate over a streak plate is that the spread plate is that it allows for the calculation of cell numbers.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the streak-plate technique, the intent is to isolate bacteria by dilution in theory by dilution on the solid surface .

In spread plate the sample is poured onto the solid medium and spread evenly on the surface and is incubated until bacterial colonies grow on the surface of medium. Hence it has an advantage over streak plate as heat sensitive microbes are not affected and subsurface colonies don't appear in the spread plate resulting in easy isolation of the organism allowing it to calculate the number of cells easily.

Answer 2

The spread plate allows you to count and isolate the bacteria present in a sample.

Step-by-step explanation:

Spread plate and streak plate methods are employed to culture bacteria for a variety of reasons. If the reason for culturing is to obtain pure cultures from a mixed culture of bacteria innoculum, the method to be adopted is the streak-plate. If the reason is to count or isolate the number of bacteria present in the sample, the method to be adopted is the spread plate method.