disk diffusion data in manuscripts

[BabcockHall]

Good Morning,

We are collaborating with a group that performs disk diffusion assays on compounds that we make.  We would like to publish some disk diffusion data in addition to reporting on the syntheses and perhaps the in vitro behavior of a set of compounds.  However, the area of whole-cell biological testing is generally unfamiliar to me, and I don't know how to present data in a manuscript.  I also don't have a good feel for what information should or should not be included in reporting these data.  Perhaps someone could suggest a model publication, for example.  Thank you.

[CharonY]

Assuming you are reporting a zone of inhibition, depending on journal you would at minimum report the radius (or diameter) of the inhibition zone with a some measure of variation (e.g. standard deviation) from replicates. Often a representative image is also requested for the supplement at least, showing that there was even diffusion and/or that inhibition war properly assessed. 

It depends on what you want to express and where you want to submit it, though. If e.g. the compound is to be tested against established antimicrobial substances, it would make sense to follow the scheme outlined by clinical lab standard initiatives (e.g. https://clsi.org/standards/products/microbiology/documents/m02/ , CDC standards etc.). For more technical work one can follow guidelines and protocols from societies like the ASM: https://asm.org/getattachment/2594ce26-bd44-47f6-8287-0657aa9185ad/Kirby-Bauer-Disk-Diffusion-Susceptibility-Test-Protocol-pdf.pdf

I.e. if you want to publish in those journals.

[BabcockHall]

Hi CharonY,

Thank you for a very helpful answer.  We used established antimicrobial substances as positive controls; we were not comparing our compounds to them in any other sense.