is there any other method better than plate counting? - (Aug/26/2011 )

i want to enumerate one certain bacteria in soil samples. i choose the selective medium so the bacteria of interest can standout. but the problem is i don't know how many bacteria in the soil. normally, i need to do a series of dilution, but there is still a chance that none of the dilutions is good. in that case, i have to redo it. it's so time-consuming annoying. is there any other method? i heard there is an equipment, spiral plater, anyone has used it?

Isn't this done with quantitative PCR now?

hobglobin on Fri Aug 26 20:50:31 2011 said: