Culture Media
Culture Media
Culture Media
2. Definitions
Culture medium = aqueous solution of nutritive substances (nutrients, growth factors).
Nutrients = substances whose solutions can cross the cytosolic membrane.
b. pH (Hydrogen concentration)
- most bacteria require an optimum pH around neutrality (7-7,5)
- exceptions:
alkalinophiles = grow best in a strongly alkaline solution (8,5-9) Vibrio cholerae
acidophiles = grow in a higly acid environment (5-5.5) Lactobacillus acidophilus
c. Temperature:
- most bateria, including all parasites of man are mesophiles, with optimal growth temperature of 37 ° C
(limits 25-45 ° C)
- psychrotrophic bacteria multiply rapidly at 20-30 ° C and grow slowly at refrigerator temperature
- psychrophilic bacteria grow best at low temperature (0-20 ° C), and are important in connection with
cold storage of food and blood
- thermophiles, found in hot springs, can multiply as high as 50 - 70 ° C; they are of no medical
importance.
a. Source of materials → microbiological media currently are categorized as either chemically defined
or complex.
Chemically defined.
Complex media.
b. Consistency → Microbiological media may be prepared as either liquid (broth) or solid media.
When a solid medium is prepared, the corresponding broth is solidified by the addition of agar to the
broth. "
Semi - solid = used for mobility study and preservation of bacteria.
c. Nutritional value
Simple media - support the growth of non- fastidious bacteria.
Enriched media contain the nutrients (e.g. vitamin, amino acid, blood component, or carbon source)
necessary for the growth of a wide variety of organisms, including some of the more fastidious ones.
Blood agar is an enriched medium in which nutritionally rich whole blood supplements the basic
nutrients.
Chocolate agar is enriched with heat-treated blood which turns brown and gives the medium the color
for which it is named.
d. Purpose of use
- media used for identification of bacteria - study the biochemical activity of bacteria for classification
in a genus / species.
- media used for conservation of bacteria.
- media used for isolation of bacteria → may be categorized as enrichment, selective and differential.
• Differential media allow for the separation of organisms based on some observable change in
the appearance of the media.
• Selective media are solid media that allow for the selection of particular microorganisms that
may be present in a mixed culture. Selective media usually contain a component that inhibits the
growth of competing organisms.
• Enrichment media are liquid media that contain a component that enhances the growth of the
desired organism and inhibits the growth of competing organisms → designed to increase the
numbers of desired microorganisms to a detectable level.
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