The inoculum effect produces a significant increase in this quantity, which inversely correlates with the diameter of the disk in the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion test. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this quantity known by a three-letter acronym. It must be exceeded in both time-dependent killing and concentration-dependent killing.
ANSWER: minimum inhibitory concentration [or MIC]
[10e] The minimum inhibitory concentration increases over time as this property develops. The use of “broad spectrum” agents can promote this property seen in MRSA strains.
ANSWER: antibiotic resistance [or antimicrobial resistance or AMR; accept multidrug resistance or MDR; accept descriptions of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics]
[10m] The MIC of a drug can be calculated using this technique, which is also used in titer testing for antibodies. In this technique, the concentration is repeatedly halved until a change is observed.
ANSWER: serial dilution [prompt on stepwise dilution or word forms of dilute]
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