| colony | <biology> A group of identical cells (clones) derived from a single parent cell. <cell culture> A clone of bacterial cells on a solid medium that is visible to the naked eye. (09 Oct 1997) |
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| colony counter | A device which counts the number of colonies on an agar plate (a solid growth medium). (09 Oct 1997) |
| colony count, microbial | Enumeration by direct count of viable, isolated bacterial or fungal cells or spores capable of growth on solid culture media. Each colony (i.e., microbial colony-forming unit) represents the progeny of a single cell in the original inoculum. The method is used routinely by environmental microbiologists for quantifying organisms in air, food, and water; by clinicians for measuring patients' microbial load; and in antimicrobial drug testing. (12 Dec 1998) |
| colony-forming unit | <cell biology> An individual cell which is able to clone itself into an entire colony of identical cells. Irradiated mice can have their immune systems reconstituted by the injection of bone marrow cells from a nonirradiated animal. The injected cells form colonies in the spleen (hence s), each colony representing the progeny of a pluripotent stem cell. Operationally, therefore, the number of colony-forming units is a measure of the number of stem cells. Acronym: CFU (09 Oct 1997) |
| colony-forming units assay | A cytologic technique for measuring the functional capacity of stem cells by assaying their activity. (12 Dec 1998) |
| colony hybridisation | <molecular biology> A genetics lab technique used to identify which colonies of bacteria on an agar plate contain a particular sequence of DNA or a particular gene. The technique involves pressing a nylon or nitrocellulose membrane onto the plate so that each colony contributes a small smudge of itself to the membrane, then treating the membrane with chemicals and heat, then washing the membrane with a labelled probe to find the specific DNA sequence. The smudges which are indicated by the probe are then compared back to the colonies on the agar plate. This technique is often used in conjunction with experiments involving the making of genomic libraries. (09 Oct 1997) |
| colony-stimulating factor | <cell biology> A glycoprotein growth factor that regulates the differentiation of particular cells. These substances act in either paracrine or autocrine fashion on marrow cells, appear to act synergistically and can exert actions on several lines of progenitor cells, and influence end cell function. These lymphokines induce the maturation and proliferation of white blood cells from the primitive cell types present in bone marrow such as the leucocyte, macrophage and monocyte lines. These substances can also be made by recombinant DNA technology for use clinically to speed bone marrow recovery typically following chemotherapy. Acronym: CSF (18 Jul 2002) |
| mother colony | A colony which gives rise to a secondary colony (a daughter colony), the latter growing on the surface of the former; the mother colony is larger than the daughter colony, and the characteristics of the colony's may differ. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mucoid colony | A colony showing viscous or sticky growth typical of an organism producing large quantities of a carbohydrate capsule. (05 Mar 2000) |
| multi-colony-stimulating factor | <cytokine> Product of mitogen activated T-cells: colony-stimulating factor for bone marrow stem cells and mast cells. A multilineage cell growth factor secreted by lymphocytes, epithelial cells, and astrocytes which stimulates clonal proliferation and differentiation of various types of blood and tissue cells. It is considered one of the haematopoietic colony-stimulating factors. Synonym: multi-CSF Acronym: IL-3 (12 Dec 1998) |
| multipotential colony-stimulating factor | <cytokine> Product of mitogen activated T-cells: colony-stimulating factor for bone marrow stem cells and mast cells. A multilineage cell growth factor secreted by lymphocytes, epithelial cells, and astrocytes which stimulates clonal proliferation and differentiation of various types of blood and tissue cells. It is considered one of the haematopoietic colony-stimulating factors. Synonym: multi-CSF Acronym: IL-3 (12 Dec 1998) |
| H colony | <cell culture> A colony of motile organisms forming a thin film of growth. Compare: O colony. Origin: Ger. Hauch, breath (05 Mar 2000) |
| smooth colony | A bacterial colony with a glistening, rounded surface; this type of colony is usually associated with increased virulence with respect to that of rough colony's. (05 Mar 2000) |
| spheroid colony | A colony of protozoa in which the individual cells are held together in a coherent spherical mass by a gelatinoid material. (05 Mar 2000) |
| daughter colony | A secondary colony growing on the surface of an older colony; it is smaller and may have characteristics different from those of the mother colony. (05 Mar 2000) |