"NETomoney" <netomoney at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000717205202.13122.00001418 at ng-bg1.aol.com...
> A reply would be greatly appreciated.
>> In a standard 1:10 dilution, two duplicate plate counts of 1mL are
prepared.
> The plate count results are zero, therefore the result is reported as less
then
> 10.
>> If a 1:300 dilution is performed, six 5 mL replicate plates are prepared,
and
> no counts are observed. Which is correct to report? Less then 60 or less
then
> 10?
>> If replicate counts are performed, does that increase the sensitivity of
the
> test? For a normal 1:10 dilution with 2 replicate 1 ml counts performed,
would
> it correct to report results as less then 5, since 2 mL was actually
plated, or
> are the number of replicates disregarded?
>Replicate plating implies that you divide the count by the number of plates.
If you take and average of your counts then a level of <60 if you use the
total count
from all your plates <10.
If you test all of a 1:10 dilution however many plates you spread it across
then you have still tested 1ml of your original sample
therefore you could give a count of <1.
David Lawton
