The Many Uses and Applications of Culture Media

Culture media often find their applications in a variety of spaces such as that of dairy, pathology, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, public health and water treatment facilities. In the area of bacteriology especially, the liquid or gel form is used to support the growth of cells, microorganisms and certain kinds of small plants.

Here are some of commonly used variants and their primary purposes in the area of bacteriology-

Bile Esculin Agar (BEA): Used for the purpose of differential isolation as well as presumptive identification of group D enterococci and streptococci.

Bile Esculin Azide Agar with Vancomycin: Here, selective and differential versions are often used for purpose of cultivation of vancomycin-resistant enterococci from a variety of surveillance and clinical specimens.

Buffered Charcoal-yeast extract agar (BCYE): This is essentially an enrichment version that is used for Legionella SPP.

Buffered Charcoal-yeast extract agar with antibiotics: This form is also used for the enrichment as well as the selection of Legionella SPP.

Campy-blood Agar: This is often used for Campylobacter SPP.

Bloog Agar: This is essentially employed for the determination of hemolytic reactions and the cultivation of some fastidious microorganisms.

Furthermore, two types of culture media also find their use in primary recovery for all clinically relevant fungi within clinical specimens, where one of the medium needs to be non selective, for example, the Brain Heart Infusion Agar. This means that one must allow the growth of virtually all kinds of clinically significant fungi while the other needs to be selective, i.e. one that is tailored specifically for the purpose of isolating the pathogenic fungi in question.

To facilitate the best recovery for the fungal pathogen, a number of media needs to be used. The recommended ones are -

Media that comes with or without cyclohexamide. This ingredient is usually added to inhibit the growth of any fast growing molds that are contaminating.

Media that comes with or without an antibacterial agents. Commonly used antibacterial agents include gentamicin, cholramphenicol and corpfloxacin. These agents are typically used to kill the contaminating bacteria. However, if the sample is taken from a site that is deemed sterile, it is not mandatory for one to use the variant that comes with antibacterial agents.

With a variety of dehydrated and microbiological culture media that facilitate a variety of clinical requirements, getting in touch with a reliable manufacturer is important to ensure access to high quality materials for your laboratory requirements.

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