title: The Luria-Delbrück protocol is still the most practical.
abstract: It is theoretically appealing to determine microbial mutation rates by counting mutant cells in two successive generations. However, major experimental difficulties have been largely ignored, causing unreliable estimates of mutation rates to be unwittingly accepted. Counting mutant cells twice in the same liquid culture incurs appreciable errors that are difficult to quantify; maintaining synchronous cell growth for 25 or more generations is an equally daunting laboratory feat.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Texas A&M School of Public Health, College Station, TX 77843, USA. Electronic address: qzheng@sph.tamhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D008957:Models, Genetic; D059645:Mutation Rate
keywords: Fluctuation test experiment; Mutation rate; Plating efficiency