An agar plate streaked with microorganisms isolated from a deep-water sponge.

An agar plate is a sterile Petri dish that contains agar plus nutrients (media), used to culture microorganisms. Generally, selective growth compounds are also added to the media, such as antibiotics. Image File history File links An agar plate with microorganisms isolated from a deep-water sponge. ... Image File history File links An agar plate with microorganisms isolated from a deep-water sponge. ... E. coli magnified 10,000 times. ... The deep ocean is the lowest layer in an ocean, existing below the thermocline. ... Classes Calcarea Hexactinellida Demospongiae The sponges or poriferans (from the Greek poros pore and ferro to bear) are animals of the phylum Porifera. ... Man looking at fungus inside of petri dishes A Petri dish is a shallow glass or plastic cylindrical dish that biologists use to culture microbes. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A microbiological culture is a way to determine the cause of infectious disease by letting the agent multiply (reproduce) in predetermined media. ... A microorganism or microbe is an organism that is so small that it is microscopic (invisible to the naked eye). ... A selective medium is a substance (usually agar-based) which grows a specific type of microbe. ... An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. ...

For information on agar plate preparation, please visit the Wikibooks Agar Plate page.

Types of agar plates

Four types of agar plates demonstrating differential growth depending on bacterial metabolism.

A subset of commonly used agar plate types is listed below. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x721, 41 KB) After 24 hours of growth, this image depicts four different agar media culture plates that had been inoculated with Shigella sp. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (700x721, 41 KB) After 24 hours of growth, this image depicts four different agar media culture plates that had been inoculated with Shigella sp. ...

Blood agar types

• Blood agar plate (BAP)

like a silly silly sod that smiles lots :):Contains blood from a mammal (usually sheep), and respires to typical transperent nature, typically at a concentration of 5–10%. BAP are an enriched, differential media used to isolate fastidious organisms and detect hemolytic activity. β-hemolytic activity will show complete lysis of red blood cells surrounding colony, while α-hemolysis will only partially lyse hemoglobin and will appear green. γ-hemolysis is the term referring to a lack of hemolytic activity. Some microbiological techniques use the appearance of bacterial colonies on culture media to help identify the species of organisms that have been isolated. ...

• Chocolate agar (CHOC)

A type of blood agar plate in which the blood cells have been lysed by heating the cells to 56 °C; used for growing fastidious (fussy) respiratory bacteria.

• Thayer-Martin agar (TM)

Chocolate agar designed to isolate Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Lysis (Greek lusis from luein = to separate) refers to the death of a cell by bursting, often by viral or osmotic mechanisms that compromise the integrity of the cellular membrane. ... Binomial name Neisseria gonorrhoeae Zopf, 1885 Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a species of Gram-negative (see also Gram Stain) bacteria responsible for the disease gonorrhoea. ...

General bacterial media

• Bile Esculin Agar (BEA)

BEA is used for the isolation of Enterococci as well as Group D Streptococci

• Hektoen Enteric (HE)

HE agar is designed to isolate and recover fecal bacteria belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. HE is particularly useful in isolating Salmonella and Shigella.

• MacConkey agar (MAC)

A selective and differential media used to differentiate between Gram negative bacteria while inhibiting the growth of Gram positive bacteria. The addition of bile salts and crystal violet to the agar inhibits the growth of most Gram positive bacteria, making MacConkey agar selective. Lactose and neutral red are added to differentiate the lactose fermenters, which form pink colonies, from lactose nonfermenters that form clear colonies.

• Mannitol Salt Agar (MSA)

MSA is also a selective and differential media. Mannitol is the differential part, it indicates organisms that ferment mannitol. If mannitol fermentation is occurring, lactic acid will be produced, and the pH will drop causing the MSA plate to turn yellow. The salt portion is selective for halophiles; organisms that cannot withstand a high salt content will be unable to grow.

• Nutrient agar

Safe to use in school science laboratories because it does not selectively grow pathogenic bacteria.

• Önöz agar

Önöz agar allows more rapid bacteriological diagnosis as Salmonella and Shigella colonies can be clearly and reliably differentiated from other Enterobacteriaceae. The yields of Salmonella from stool samples obtained, when using this medium, are higher than those obtained with LEIFSON Agar or Salmonella–Shigella agar (SSA).

• Phenylethyl Alcohol Agar (PEA)

PEA selects for Staphylococcus species while inhibiting Gram-negative bacilli (e.g. Escherichia coli, Shigella, Proteus, etc.).

• Tryptic (Trypticase) Soy Agar (TSA)

TSA is a general purpose media produced via enzymatic digestion of soybean meal and caesin; TSA is frequently the base media of other agar plate type, i.e. blood agar plates (BAP) are made by enriching TSA plates with blood (see above).

TSA plates support growth of many semi-fastidious bacteria, including some species of Brucella, Corynebacterium, Listeria, Neisseria, and Vibrio.

• Xylose-Lysine-Deoxycholate (XLD) agar.

XLD is used for the culture of stool samples, and contains two indicators. It is formulated to inhibit Gram-positive bacteria, while the growth of Gram-negative bacilli is encouraged. The colonies of lactose fermenters appear yellow.

Species E. faecalis Enterococcus is a genus of bacteria of the phylum Firmicutes. ... Species S. agalactiae S. bovis S. mutans S. pneumoniae S. pyogenes S. salivarius S. sanguinis S. suis Streptococcus viridans group etc. ... Genera see text The Enterobacteriaceae are a large family of bacteria, including many of the more familiar pathogens, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli. ... Species Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever and foodborne illness. ... Species S. boydii S. dysenteriae S. flexneri Shigella are Gram-negative, nonmotile, non-spore forming rod-shaped bacteria closely related to the E. coli. ... MacConkeys Agar is a culture medium designed to grow up Gram-negative bacteria and stain them for lactose fermentation. ... Gram-negative bacteria are those that do not retain crystal violet dye in the Gram staining protocol. ... Gram-positive bacteria are those that are stained dark blue or violet by gram staining, in contrast to Gram-negative bacteria, which are not affected by the stain. ... Structure of Methyl Violet 2B Methyl violet is the name given to a group of similar chemicals used as pH indicators and dyes. ... Mannitol or hexane-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexol (C6H8(OH)6) is an osmotic diuretic agent and a weak renal vasodilator. ... Halophiles are extremophiles that thrive in environments with very high concentrations of salt (at least 0. ... A pathogen or infectious agent is a biological agent that causes disease or illness to its host. ... Species Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever and foodborne illness. ... Species S. boydii S. dysenteriae S. flexneri Shigella are Gram-negative, nonmotile, non-spore forming rod-shaped bacteria closely related to the E. coli. ... Genera see text The Enterobacteriaceae are a large family of bacteria, including many of the more familiar pathogens, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli. ... Species S. aureus S. caprae S. epidermidis S. haemolyticus S. hominis S. lugdunensis S. saprophyticus S. warneri S. xylosus Staphylococcus (in Greek staphyle means bunch of grapes and coccos means granule) is a genus of gram-positive bacteria. ... Bacteria that are Gram-negative are not stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining, in contrast to Gram-positive bacteria. ... Binomial name Escherichia coli T. Escherich, 1885 E. coli at 10,000x magnification Escherichia coli, usually abbreviated to E. coli, discovered by Theodor Escherich, a pediatrician and bacteriologist, is one of the main species of bacteria that live in the lower intestines of mammals. ... Species S. boydii S. dysenteriae S. flexneri Shigella are Gram-negative, nonmotile, non-spore forming rod-shaped bacteria closely related to the E. coli. ... Proteus as seen by Andrea Alciato In Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-god, one of several deities whom Homer calls the Old Man of the Sea[1], whose name suggests the first, as protogonos is the firstborn. He became the son of Poseidon in the Olympian theogony (Odyssey... Binomial name Glycine max (L.) Merr. ... Species Brucella melitensis Brucella abortus Brucella suis Brucella canis Brucella are a genus of bacteria. ... Species See text. ... Binomial name Listeria monocytogenes Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium, in the division Firmicutes, named for Joseph Lister. ... Neisseria is a genus of bacteria, included among the proteobacteria, a large group of gram-negative forms. ... Vibrio is a genus of bacteria, included in the gamma subgroup of the Proteobacteria. ... Look up stool in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Orders Bacillales Lactobacillales The term bacilli (singular bacillus) is used to refer to any rod-shaped bacteria. ...

Fungal media

• Sabouraud agar

Used to culture fungi, Sabouraud agar and has a low pH that inhibits the growth of most bacteria; also contains the antibiotic gentamicin to specifically inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria.

• Hay Infusion agar

Specific for the culturing of slime moulds.

Raymond Sabouraud (November 24, 1864 - 1938) was a French physician specialized in dermatology but also a painter and sculptor. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... The title of this article should be pH. The initial letter is capitalized due to technical restrictions. ... Gentamicin is a aminoglycoside antibiotic, and can treat many different types of bacterial infections, particularly Gram-negative infection. ... Bacteria that are Gram-negative are not stained dark blue or violet by Gram staining, in contrast to Gram-positive bacteria. ... Typical orders Protostelia    Protosteliida Myxogastria    Liceida    Echinosteliida    Trichiida    Stemonitida    Physarida Dictyostelia    Dictyosteliida Slime moulds are peculiar protists that normally take the form of amoebae, but under certain conditions develop fruiting bodies that release spores, superficially similar to the sporangia of fungi. ...

References

• Madigan M; Martinko J (editors). (2005). Brock Biology of Microorganisms, 11th ed., Prentice Hall. ISBN 0131443291.

• Ryan KJ; Ray CG (editors) (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology, 4th ed., McGraw Hill. ISBN 0838585299.

• Barron S et al, (editors). (1996). Baron's Medical Microbiology, 4th ed., Univ of Texas Medical Branch. (via NCBI Bookshelf) ISBN 0-9631172-1-1.

See also

Wikibooks Transwiki has more about this subject:

Agar plate

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Agar plate

• Artificial media
• Petri dish
• Replica plating
• Viral plaque

Image File history File links Wikibooks-logo-en. ... Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... Artificial media/medium is any substance upon which bacteria or molds are grown in the lab. ... Man looking at fungus inside of petri dishes A Petri dish is a shallow glass or plastic cylindrical dish that biologists use to culture microbes. ... Replica plating is a technique in which multiple dishes, also known as Petri plates, containing solid (agar-based) microbial media, are inoculated with between thirty and three-hundred colonies of microorganisms from a primary plate (or master dish), reproducing the original spatial pattern of colonies. ... A viral plaque is a visible structure formed within a cell culture, such as bacterial cultures within some nutrient medium (e. ...

External links

• All About Agar