Bacterial Culture Media basics :Bacterial Culture Media basics Dr.T.V.Rao MD


Major Contribution to Culture Media :Major Contribution to Culture Media


Agar - Agar Frau Hesse’scontribution :Agar - Agar Frau Hesse’scontribution


Agar – Agar :Agar – Agar Solid medium is made by adding Agar Agar is obtained from Sea weeds New Zealand agar is more Agar contain long chain poly saccharides.Inoranic salts and protein like substance Melts at 980c and sets at 420c


Agar - Agar :Agar - Agar Complex polysaccharide Used as solidifying agent for culture media in Petri plates, slants, and deeps Generally not metabolized by microbes Liquefies at 98°C Solidifies ~42°C Dr.T.V.Rao MD’s ‘e’ learning series


Media and Culture :Media and Culture Media: Nutrients (agar, pH indicators, proteins and carbohydrates) used to grow organisms outside of their natural habitats Culture: The propagation of microorganisms using various media


Culture media :Culture media Used to grow bacteria Can be used to: Enrich the numbers of bacteria Select for certain bacteria and suppress others Differentiate among different kinds of bacteria


Culture and Medium :Culture and Medium Culture is the term given to microorganisms that are cultivated in the lab for the purpose of identifying and studying them. Medium is the term given to the combination of ingredients that will support the growth and cultivation of microorganisms by providing all the essential nutrients required for the growth (that is, multiplication) in order to cultivate these microorganisms in large numbers to study them.


Specific Media :Specific Media Defined media are media composed of pure ingredients in carefully measured concentrations dissolved in double distilled water i.e., the exact chemical composition of the medium is known. Typically, they contain a simple sugar as the carbon and energy source, an inorganic nitrogen source, various mineral salts and if necessary growth factors (purified amino acids, vitamins, purines and pyrimidines


Need for Culture Media :Need for Culture Media It is usually essential to obtain a culture by grwoing the organism in an artificial medium. If more than one species or type of organism are present each requires to be carefully separated or isolated in pure culture. Several organism need the determination of Antibiotic sensitivity pattern for optimal antibiotic selection


Basic requirements of culture media :Basic requirements of culture media Nutrients - Energy source - Carbon source - Nitrogen source Mineral salts – Sulphate, phosphates, chlorides & carbonates of K, Mg & Ca. A suitable pH – 7.2 – 7.4 Accessory growth factors - Tryptophan for Salmonella typhi - X & V factors for H. influenzae


Pouring the Culture Plates :Pouring the Culture Plates


Petri dish with Media :Petri dish with Media Plate: provide large surface for isolation and observation of colonies Using a sterile loop or a sterile swab streak your sample on the petri plate Important let your sterilized loop cool before you pick up your sample


Classification of Culture media :Classification of Culture media Based on the consistency: Liquid -- Peptone water, Nutrient broth Semisolid -- Nutrient agar stabs Solid -- Blood agar, Serum agar Based on Oxygen requirement: -- Aerobic medium -- Anaerobic media


Aerobic Media :Aerobic Media Simple media Complex media May be Synthetic or Defined Medium - Enriched media - Differential media - Enrichment media - Selective media Semisyntetic Medium - Sugar media - Transport media


Aerobic media :Aerobic media Liquid media - Peptone water(1% peptone +0.5%Nacl + 100 ml water) - Nutrient broth ( peptone water + 1% meat extract Solid media - Nutrient agar (nutrient broth + 2% Agar) Use: To grow non-fastidious microorganisms Simple media- consists of only basic necessities


Liquid Medium :Liquid Medium Difficulat to identify all types of organisms Suitable for isolation of bacteria from Blood culturing and water analysis


Peptone :Peptone Peptone contain partially digested proteins Proteases Polypeptides Aminoacids Inorganic salts Phosphates Potassium and Magnesium Riboflavin Meat exract called as Lab lemco


Nutrient Agar :Nutrient Agar Contain 2% agar added to Nutrient agar commonly used Concentration can be increased to 6% to prevent swarming Can be reduced to 0’5%


Pigment producing Staphylococci :Pigment producing Staphylococci


Complex media :Complex media Nutrient agar + 5 to 10% sheep blood Melt the sterile nutrient agar by steaming, cool, to 450 c Add the blood aseptically with constant shaking Mix the blood with molten nutrient agar thoroughly but gently avoiding froth formation Immediately pour in to the Petri dishes or tubes and allow to set Enriched media: Blood agar Use: To cultivate all the fastidious organisms


Enriched Medium :Enriched Medium To culture medium Blood serum or egg are added to medium eg Blood agar Chocolate agar Egg


Different types of hemolysis on Blood Agar :Different types of hemolysis on Blood Agar


Other Enrichments – Chocolate Agar :Other Enrichments – Chocolate Agar Several organic materials are added to the basic constituents of the Medium such as Blood, yeast, yeast extract etc


Chocolate agar :Chocolate agar


Enrichment Medium :Enrichment Medium If the sample contain more than one type of bacteria, undesired bacteria grwoth can be reduced or eliminated. The desired organism is facilitated to grow Eg Tetrathionate broth Selenite F broth


Selective media :Selective media Serve the same purpose as Enrichment media but are solid in consistency - Wilson & Blair’s medium - - Lowenstein Jensen’s medium - Use: To cultivate Salmonella, Shigella & Mycobacteria


Deoxycholate citrate Agar :Deoxycholate citrate Agar Suitable for isolation of dysentery bacilli, food poisoning Salmonella and S.paratyphi B, and less so, but superior to MacConkey agar for S. typhi. It is a heat sensitive medium It should not be autoclaved or remelted When prepared from commercial medium it should be dissolved and sterilized at 1000c for a short period


Indicator Medium Wilson-Blair medium :Indicator Medium Wilson-Blair medium Indicate by change of color Sulphite to sulphide in Wilson-Blair medium S.typhi reduces sulphite to sulphide in the presence of Glucose


Differential Medium Mac Conkey's agar :Differential Medium Mac Conkey's agar Bringing out different characters of bacteria their atypical characters Mac Conkey’s medium Contain peptone, Lactose Agar, Neutral red and taurocholate and show grwoth of Lactose fermenters as pink colored colonies


MacConkey agar :MacConkey agar MacConkey agar is useful medium for cultivation of enterobacteria It contains a bile salt to inhibit non intestinal bacteria Lactose in combination with Neutral red distinguish the lactose fermenting from the non lactose fermenting Salmonella and Dysentery group


Lactose fermenting and Non lactose fermenting :Lactose fermenting and Non lactose fermenting


Carbohydrate media :Carbohydrate media Peptone water – 100 ml, Desired sugar 1 gm% and Andrade's indicator – 0.005% soln(1ml) Dissolve the desired carbohydrate in peptone water and steam for 30 min or sterilize by filtration. Distribute into sterile test tube containing inverted Durham’s tubes to detect gas production and steam for 30 min Use: To test the fermenting ability of an organism


Carbohydrate media :Carbohydrate media Peptone water – 100 ml, Desired sugar 1 gm% and Andrade's indicator – 0.005% soln(1ml) Dissolve the desired carbohydrate in peptone water and steam for 30 min or sterilize by filtration. Use: To test the fermenting ability of an organism


Sugar Medium :Sugar Medium Sugars are fermenting substances Monosaccharide – peptone, arabinose,xylose and hexose's, dextrose and mannose Disaccharides Sucrose and Lactose Polysaccharides – Starch and Inulin Alcohols – Glycerol. Sorbital Sugar medium contain 1% sugar Durham’s tube indicates production of gas Hiss Serum sugars apart from sugar , serum is added.


Sugar Medium :Sugar Medium Sugar medium contain 1% sugar Durham’s tube indicates production of gas Hiss Serum sugars apart from sugar , serum is added.


Urease Test :Urease Test


Loeffler’s serum slope :Loeffler’s serum slope


Lowenstein Jensen Medium :Lowenstein Jensen Medium


Transport Medium :Transport Medium Stuart’s medium contain reducing agents to prevent oxidation. Charcoal to neutralize certain bacterial inhibitors to Gonococci,


Hiss Serum SugarsSugar Medium with Serum enrichment :Hiss Serum SugarsSugar Medium with Serum enrichment


Anaerobic Medium :Anaerobic Medium Robertson’s cooked meat medium Thiglyclolate liquid medium


Anaerobic Culture Methods Anaerobic jar :Anaerobic Culture Methods Anaerobic jar Anaerobic jar Figure 6.5


Sabouraud's Dextrose agar commonly used Fungal Isolation Medium :Sabouraud's Dextrose agar commonly used Fungal Isolation Medium


Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar :Sabouraud's Dextrose Agar Dextrose - 4 gm% Neopeptone - 1 gm% Agar - 1.5 gm% Distilled water - 100 ml Dissolve the ingredients by heating in a water bath, cool and adjust pH to 5.4 Autoclave and dispense 20 ml amount in test tubes Use: For the cultivation of Fungi


Robertsons’cooked Meat Medium :Robertsons’cooked Meat Medium Place meat in 1 ounce bottles to the depth of 2.5 cms and cover it with 15 ml of broth Autoclave at 1210 c for 20 min After sterilization, adjust the pH to 7.5 Use: To cultivate the anaerobic bacteria


Lowenstein Jensen Medium - cultivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis :Lowenstein Jensen Medium - cultivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis


Lowenstein-Jensen’s medium :Lowenstein-Jensen’s medium Mineral salt soln - 600mlMalachite green soln - 20ml(2gm% in D.water)Beaten egg - 1000ml(20-22 eggs) Mix the above Distribute in Mc Cartney bottles Sterilize by Inspissation Use: To cultivate Mycobacteria


Sterilization of culture media :Sterilization of culture media Media are sterilized in the autoclave at 1210 c for 15’ under 15lbs of Pressure Heat-labile substances like serum & sugar solutions must be sterilized by free-steam or filtration Egg containing media –-- Lowenstein-Jensen’s medium, Loeffler's serum slope by inspissation Discarded culture plates are to be sterilized by autoclaving prior to washing


Colonies of Bacteria on Culture plates :Colonies of Bacteria on Culture plates


Salmonella Shigella agar :Salmonella Shigella agar


TCBS medium :TCBS medium


Blood culture – ‘Liquid Medium’ :Blood culture – ‘Liquid Medium’


Carbohydrate media :Carbohydrate media Peptone water – 100 ml, Desired sugar 1 gm% and Andrade's indicator – 0.005% soln(1ml) Dissolve the desired carbohydrate in peptone water and steam for 30 min or sterilize by filtration. Use: To test the fermenting ability of an organism


Muller Hinton Agar for Antibiotic Testing :Muller Hinton Agar for Antibiotic Testing


Antibiotic Testing on Blood Agar Medium :Antibiotic Testing on Blood Agar Medium


Storage of culture media :Storage of culture media Prepared media in individual screw capped bottles can be stored for weeks at room temp Poured plates deteriorate quickly and often contaminated, hence cold storage is necessary For smaller labs domestic refrigerators & for larger labs insulated cold room(4-5oc) Deep freeze refrigerators for preservation of sera, antibiotics & amino acids (-10 to - 400c)


Created for Dr.T.V.Rao MD’s ‘e’ Learning Programme :Created for Dr.T.V.Rao MD’s ‘e’ Learning Programme Dr.T.V.Rao MD Email doctortvrao@gmail.com