What is an inoculating fluid (IF)?
Complete inoculating fluid typically contains cells, redox dye, buffer, salts, detergent, gelling agent, and other components. Inoculating fluids are prepared specifically for the category of PM plates and species or cell type being studied. For example, inoculating fluid for PM1 and PM2 cannot contain any carbon source, since we are testing carbon source utilization in those PM panels.
