Practical Microbiology: The Indicative Smell

avatar

         Well, the thing about working in an understaffed situation is that new hires are coming. And some of them have. Now, the training part could take a while. The fun part about training someone is that you get to know your new coworker. At the same time, share experiences relevant to the job.

         One of the major things lab technologists do is identifying pathogens. Outside of biochemical tests, etc., we use different clues to work towards a conclusion. One of such methods is the smell of the organisms. Of course, there is safety precautions to taking whiff, so that's a given.

         With the internet, it's often easy to find resources to use as aid for training. Here's an example of a chart I found to help with training.


Source

         For the most part, I agree with the chart. There are some of them I would disagree with based on my experience.

For example:

Citrobacter - more of a brussel sprout smell. This is more true on chrome agar than not.

Corynebacterium - I have never encountered fruity smell on any plate.

Haemophilus - it has a smell, but doesn't seem to resemble wet far as the website suggests.

Nocardia - more of a rain smell. Instead of musty, it's actually a lot fresher.

Pseudomonas - can also smell like tortilla chips depending on the variant.

         An off chart example would be Staphylococcus saprophyticus. It shares the dirty sneaker/socks smell like S. aureus. On the chrome agar, the smell can be a differentiating point from other Staph species. Often, the smell is what sets S. saprophyticus and S. simulans apart on the chrome agar. Unless, of course, you choose to spend time using the MALDI-TOF to identify them for sure.

Why the smell?

         Sometimes, cultures can be messy. As in, several organisms can be present. Your sight may not always pick up all the different colonies that exist on the plate. Being able to pick out a distinct smell could help you find an organism you didn't see.

         On the efficiency side, you could save yourself some time and effort. This is especially true for some cultures where the susceptibilities are the focus. This also includes more preliminary information for the clinicians.

         Let's take the viridans group. Noticing that buttery smell helps you declare that you don't have S. pneumoniae. This is especially important in a respiratory culture.

         With Nocardia species, sometimes the smell come before you notice distinct colonies. This is one pathogen you want to pick out asap when dealing with blood cultures.

         I could go on and on, but the point is, smell can be a useful tool in microbiology. With the new dress code due to the pandemic, one should feel a bit safer taking a whiff. Everyone is pretty much in biohazard level 2 attire now.

         Anyways, it's another night at the lab.



0
0
0.000
22 comments
avatar

Niceee, i study microbiology, and microbiology advanced, i remember the test im gram! Loved the colors in the bacterys !discovery 15

0
0
0.000
avatar

Nice to see a fellow microbiologist. I've only encountered a few with that discipline on Hive.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I guess I would not be suitable for that type of a job, because my sniffer does not work well with a lot of smells, things really have to smell for me to smell them.

Burnt chocolate I have never smelled before, maybe bad cooks have, but I have never smelled burnt chocolate, and acrid, what kind of smell is that? and pungent (indole)? When in school do they make you smell those things?

0
0
0.000
avatar

I'm of the personal opinion that I have a bad sense of smell. If I could do it, you could too.

A lot of the smells require you to experience it in order to relate. I don't recall them forcing us to smell everything back in school. But, the smells are super helpful.

The burnt chocolate one is interesting because I have heard some folks say it smells disgusting. To me, it's just a light cocoa smell. So, everyone's mileage varies.

0
0
0.000
avatar

OK, so you have 13 accounts...

0
0
0.000
avatar

I got 13 people following my flags.

I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to rattle the cage. Expect more people come flagging you.

0
0
0.000
avatar

WoW ... can you spell totalitarian fascist ...

0
0
0.000
avatar

Then, don't do dumb shit.

0
0
0.000
avatar

... don't downvote people you totalitarian fascist ...

0
0
0.000
avatar

Don't downvote strangers on the internet then, moron. You came downvoting me expecting anything less in return?

Stay on those blacklists.

0
0
0.000
avatar

... yeah ... I downvoted you enforcer48 because you were downvoting random people ...
Have you ever taken anybody of your silly blacklist?

0
0
0.000
avatar

Every downvote has a reason. I don't downvote random people.

You will be downvoted for lying.

0
0
0.000
avatar

So ... have you ever taken anybody of your silly blacklist?

0
0
0.000
avatar

... you know you have no friends but only losers who are afraid of you ...

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

I don't need someone who pretends to be a dozen people to say that ironically.

0
0
0.000
avatar

... you obviously have more accounts than I have so you can look at yourself in the mirror while waving your flag ⛳

0
0
0.000
avatar

Congratulations @enforcer48! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You got more than 12000 replies. Your next target is to reach 12500 replies.

You can view your badges on your board And compare to others on the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Do not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:

Introducing the HiveBuzz API for applications and websites
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!
0
0
0.000
avatar

The other weekend when I was talking to that lady who works in the crime lab she was saying that Cocaine has a very distinct odor. If I remember right she said it was very vinegary. She said that when they have a potential cocaine sample come in they always fight over it, especially when one of them has a cold because it clears your sinuses right out.

0
0
0.000