The key difference between actinomyces and actinomycetes is that actinomyces is a genus of actinomycetes, which are anaerobic and not acid-fast, while actinomycetes are a group of filamentous and higher bacteria that are gram-positive. Actinomycetes are a group of bacteria that are gram-positive and behave much like fungi. They are beneficial for agriculture and soil […]

The key difference between coronavirus and rhinovirus is that coronavirus is an enveloped virus which possesses a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry and crown-like projections on the surface while rhinovirus is a non-enveloped virus which possesses a nucleocapsid of icosahedral symmetry. Viruses are infectious particles. In fact, they are noncellular infectious entities whose genome is a […]

The key difference between photosynthetic and chemosynthetic bacteria is that photosynthetic bacteria obtain energy from sunlight in order to produce carbohydrates while chemosynthetic bacteria obtain energy from the oxidation of inorganic substances in order to produce carbohydrates. Organisms can be categorized based on their mode of nutrition. Autotrophs and heterotrophs are two such main categories. […]

The key difference between total cell count and viable cell count is that total cell count estimates all cells including both living and dead microbial cells in a sample while viable cell count estimates only the living microbial cells in a sample. Counting the number of organisms within a population is considered necessary for most […]

The key difference between eclipse and latent period is that eclipse period is the time of synthesizing phage proteins and nucleic acids inside the host cell, while the latent period is the time between injection of the viral genome into the cell and host cell lysis. A bacteriophage (phage) is an obligate intracellular virus particle […]

The key difference between agar well and disc diffusion method is that in agar well diffusion method, the extract solution is filled into a hole or a well created on the agar medium while in agar disc diffusion method, a filter paper disc containing the test solution is placed on the agar surface. Microorganisms are […]

The key difference between viroid and virusoid is that viroid is a small infectious agent composed only of a single-stranded RNA while virusoid is a type of infectious circular single-stranded RNA which requires a helper virus to infect the cell. Viroid and virusoid are two types of infectious particles composed of single-stranded RNA. They are […]

The key difference between basal and complete media is that basal media are simple media that support the growth of non-fastidious bacteria, while complete media are the culture media enriched with all of the growth requirements of a strain of the organism. Growth medium or culture medium is a liquid, semisolid or solid substrate designed […]

The key difference between capsid and nucleocapsid is that capsid is the protein coat that surrounds nucleic acid of the virus particle while nucleocapsid is the capsid together with the nucleic acids of a virus. Viruses are infective particles composed of nucleic acid molecules covered with protein capsids. They are very tiny particles which can […]

The key difference between auxotrophs and prototrophs is that auxotrophs are mutant microorganisms that have lost the ability to produce a particular organic compound required for their growth while prototrophs are wild type microorganisms that are capable of producing all required organic compounds. Microorganisms show different modes of nutrition. Particularly, bacteria have different abilities. Some […]