Viral plaque

A viral plaque is a visible structure formed within a cell culture, such as bacterial cultures within some nutrient medium (e.g. agar). The bacteriophage viruses replicate and spread, thus generating regions of cell destructions known as plaques.

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These plaques can sometimes be detected visually using colony counters, in much the same way as bacterial colonies are counted; however, they are not always visible to the naked eye, and sometimes can only be seen through a microscope, or using techniques such as staining or immunofluorescence. Special computer systems have been designed with the ability to scan samples in batches.

See also

• Assay
• Virus
• Virology