Isolaten

Isolaten are discrete entities separated from a larger mixture for study. In scientific usage, an isolat (singular) or isolate refers to a pure form of a substance or organism obtained from a mixture. The plural isolaten is common in Dutch and German contexts; in English, isolates is the standard plural.

In microbiology, an isolate is typically a single strain derived from a sample and cultured under selective conditions. Isolates are used to study pathogenicity, antimicrobial resistance, taxonomy, and epidemiology. They are obtained by methods such as streak plating, serial dilution, or microtiter plate isolation, followed by phenotypic testing and genotypic analysis (for example sequencing of marker genes). Isolates may be stored in culture collections under standardized conditions and assigned an accession number.

In chemistry and biochemistry, an isolat refers to a pure compound obtained from a mixture, such as a natural product isolated from a plant or microbial extract. Isolation involves extraction, partitioning, and purification techniques, including chromatography, crystallization, and sometimes spectroscopy for confirmation. The resulting isolat is subjected to structural elucidation by NMR, mass spectrometry, and related methods.

The concept emphasizes reproducibility and traceability: an isolat should derive from a defined source with documented methods and metadata. Related terms include pure culture, strain, clone, and natural product, and related repositories include culture collections and chemical databases.