Patent ID: 6951714
Filing Date: 2005-10-04
Classification: C12N

Abstract:
1. A method of isolating and identifying a microbial species from a source environment, comprising: gathering from the source environment a sample suspected of containing a microorganism; providing a volume of culture medium to the sample in at least one microtiter plate compartment in order to dilute the sample to a culture density of 1 to 10 cells per milliliter, wherein the culture medium comprises substrate concentrations that are similar to those of the source environment; incubating the microorganism in the culture medium for a period of time and in an environment sufficient to result in growth of the microorganism if the culture medium and environment are capable of supporting such growth to produce a culture sample; detecting growth of the microorganism using an automated detection method that comprises removing a portion of the culture sample and depositing the portion onto a surface, wherein detecting growth of the microoganism consists of detecting an increase in a number of microorganisms in the compartment to no more than about 5×10 identifying the microbial species, wherein identifying the microorganism comprises hybridization of a probe to a nucleic acid molecule of the microorganism; amplification of a nucleic acid molecule of the microorganism; immunodetection of a molecule of the microorganism; sequencing of a nucleic acid molecule of the microorganism; or a combination of two or more thereof.