What are the advantages and disadvantage of preparing smears from solid and broth culture?

Question

What is the value of morphological characterization in molds? and What are the advantages and disadvantages of preparing smears from solid and broth culture?

Answer 1

Smears from plates or slants tend to be uneven and messy, with clumps of both organisms and culture medium, which makes them more difficult to keep in focus on the microscope, more difficult to stain uniformly, and more difficult to keep attached to the slide; but they usually have a higher concentration of organisms. Smears from broth are easier to make, more uniform in thickness and in distribution of the organisms, and easier to stain uniformly. They often have a lower concentration of organisms, but that problem can be overcome by using a centrifuge to concentrate the organisms before smearing them.