Colony Counting Using GeneTools - Ozyme

Technical Note 07
Colony Counting Using GeneTools
The colony counting software allows you to count objects such as bacterial colonies or plaques on a petri dish
or multi-well plate. The software will automatically count colonies, separating clusters so there is no need for
manual intervention. Counting within a user definable frame, the results are fast and accurate.
When using traditional colony counting software, the best results are obtained when the colonies are well
separated on the plate. This is not however the norm; usually there are a large number of colonies, many
overlapping. Most colony counting software finds it hard to accurately count these plates and therefore has to
allow the user to manually manipulate the results. Rather than making the user perform these time-consuming
manual recounts, GeneTools software utilises a separation technique when analysing a colony image. It
counts the colonies initially found, then runs a proprietary separation algorithm before recounting them for the
final result. To see the separation of the colonies to best effect you can ‘show the colony shapes’ on the
image.
Many manufacturers incorporate their company logo on to the bottom of plates, which can affect the count of
colonies. To avoid this, you can draw around a region on the plate you wish to exclude from a count. Exclusion
zones may also be made around contaminated areas, or bubbles in the medium.
Unlike traditional software, GeneTools will count different colour colonies on the same plate, separating them
using greyscale variations. It can also be used to automatically count blue/white colonies. The split between
the colonies is displayed as a count and a percentage of the plate covered by the colonies.
Result of analysis
showing defined count
area, area excluded
from the count, count
result for two defined
classes with
separation and the
pink areas showing
the shapes of the
colonies
/More….
S Y N G E N E
A DIVISION OF THE SYNOPTICS GROUP
A Division of Synoptics Ltd
Beacon House, Nuffield Road,
Cambridge CB4 1TF UK
Telephone: +44 (0)1223 727123
Fax: +44 (0)1223 727101
Email: sales@syngene.com

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New Feature – Add and Delete Colonies
Colony counting from Syngene is now even more comprehensive. Even using the most sophisticated
algorithms, some colony plates make it difficult to obtain an automatic count that is as accurate as a manual
one. This may be due to irregular shaped colonies, plate debris etc. The colony counting software now allows
the user to manually add or delete colonies once the automatic count has been performed. Simply check the
box labelled Add/ remove colonies:
Then use the left mouse button double click to add or remove colonies as desired. Use the zoom facility to
view the colonies more clearly.