serial dilution


dilution

 [di-loo´shun] 1. reduction of concentration of an active substance by admixture of a neutral agent.2. a substance that has undergone such a process.serial dilution a set of dilutions in a mathematical sequence. In microbiological technique, serial dilutions are used to obtain a culture plate that yields a countable number of separate colonies. From this, a calculation of viable cells in the original suspension can be made, as a colony picked for pure culture.

se·ri·al di·lu·tion

(sēr'ē-ăl di-lū'shŭn) The preparation of a graded set of solutions or suspensions, each member of the set being a fixed dilution (typically 1:2) of the preceding member; used particularly in titration of antibodies in serum.