thorough examination of the various types and instances of Microbial Culture Media

1. Microbial Culture Media
Submitted by
Abhijit padhi

2. Introduction
The media is a source of nutrients to support the growth of the micro-
organisms in-vitro. The media helps in the growth and counting of microbial
cells, selection of microorganisms, and survival of microorganisms. The
culture medium can be liquid or gel.
Common ingredients of culture media
Peptone- source of carbon and nitrogen.
Beef extract- source of amino acid, vitamins, minerals.
Yeast extract- source of vitamin, carbon, nitrogen.
Distilled water
Agar- solidifying agent.

3. Preparation of cultured media
1. Weigh the amount of ingredients powder on weighing machine.
2. Dissolve the ingredients in distilled water.
3. Adjust PH of the medium if needed.
4. Add agar and boiled it to dissolve.
5. Pour the media into flask.
6. Autoclave the media when ingredients fully dissolve.
7. Sterilization is done in autoclave to prevent from contamination, at 121ºC for 15 min at 15lbs.
8. After the autoclave place the media flask in laminar air flow.
9. Sterilize the laminar air flow with 70% alcohol.
10.A bit cools down the media and pours into sterile Petri-plates for solidification.
11.Then sample is ready to spread(spreader) / streak
12.(Inoculation loop) on the medium for identification or isolation of microbes.
13.Sealed the Petri plates with paraffin, label them.
14.Keep them inverted in incubator at 37ºC for 24hrs.
15.Observe the result next day colonies formation is visible on the media.

4. • Defined media and complex media are two broad classes of culture
media used in microbiology.
• Defined media are prepared by adding precise amounts of highly
purified inorganic or organic chemicals to distilled water. Therefore,
the exact composition of a defined medium is known.
• Complex media are prepared using digests of microbial, animal, or
plant products. Casein (milk protein), beef (beef extract), soybeans
(tryptic soy broth), yeast cells (yeast extract), or any other highly
nutritious yet impure substances are used to prepare complex media;
thus, the exact composition of the medium is not known. For culturing
many microorganisms, this information is not essential either.
• Culture media contains nutrients and physical growth parameters
necessary for microbial growth. If a culture medium meets a bacterial
cell’s growth requirements, then that cell will multiply to sufficient
numbers to allow visualization by the unaided eye. Bacterial culture
media can be classified based on composition, consistency, and
purpose.
• All microorganisms cannot grow in a single culture medium; many
can’t grow in any known culture medium. Organisms that cannot grow
in the artificial culture medium are obligate parasites. Mycobacterium
leprae, Rickettsia, Chlamydia trachomatis, and Treponema pallidum are
obligate intracellular parasites.

5. Types of media Based on
chemical
compositio
n/applicati
on
1.Basal media
Enriched media
Selective media
Enrichment media
Indicator media or
differential media
Transport media
Storage media
Based on
consistency/
physical
state
Solid
medium
Semi-
solid
medium
Liquid
medium
based
on oxygen
requirement
Aerobic
media
Anaerobic
media

6. 1. Solid Medium
It contain agar at a concentration of 1.5-2.0% or
some other primarily inert solidifying agent. Solid
medium has a physical structure and allows
bacteria to grow in physically informative or useful
ways (e.g., as colonies or in streaks). MacConkey
agar, chocolate agar, nutrient agar, blood agar, etc.,
are some examples of solid culture media.
Uses of solid culture media
• For isolating bacteria from various types of
specimen
• For determining the colony characteristics of the
isolate (such as colony morphology, hemolysis,
pigment production, etc.
• For performing antimicrobial susceptibility
testing using the Kirby Bauer disc diffusion
method

7. 2. Semisolid Medium
This type of culture media are prepared with agar at 0.5% or less
concentrations. Semisolid medium has a soft custard-like
consistency and is helpful for the cultivation of microaerophilic
bacteria or for determining bacterial motility. Motility test medium,
Stuart’s and Amies transport media, etc., are semisolid media.
3. Liquid (Broth) Medium
These media contain specific amounts of nutrients but don’t have a
trace of gelling agents such as gelatin or agar. Commonly used liquid
media in the lab are; nutrient broth, glucose broth, brain-heart
infusion (BHI) broth, alkaline peptone water (APW), tryptic soy
broth (TSB), and selenite F broth. Broth medium serves various
purposes such as propagation of many organisms, fermentation
studies, and various other tests.
Uses of liquid culture media
To grow bacteria for motility testing
To grow bacteria for inoculum production for antibiogram testing
To revive bacteria from lyophilized or stock culture
To study metabolism, toxin, and enzyme production
To enrich and/or transport clinical material

8. 1. Basal media
• This medium is straightforward since it
promotes the growth of several
microbes. It is a common laboratory
media that contains both carbon and
nitrogen. This medium, which is used
for sub-culturing, permits the
development of non-fastidious bacteria
in the absence of an enrichment
source. This medium is non-selective.
• Staphylococcus and Enterobacteriacea
e grow in this media.
• Examples of Basal media
• Nutrient Agar, Peptone water.

9. 2. Enriched media
Other materials, such as blood, eggs,
or serum, must be added to this
medium. Although other, picky
bacteria cannot thrive in an enriched
medium because they need nutrients
like vitamins and chemicals that
promote growth, they can grow in it.
Example of Enriched media
• Blood agar, Chocolate agar, LSS,
Monsor’s taurocholate, Lowenstein
Jensen media. Blood agar identifies
hemolytic bacteria, chocolate media
for N. gonorrhea.

10. 3. Selective Media
• Principle: Differential growth suppression
Selective medium is designed to suppress some microorganisms’ growth while
allowing others’ growth. Selective medium is an agar-based (solid) medium so that
individual colonies may be isolated.
• Examples of selective media include
1. Thayer Martin Agar used to recover Neisseria gonorrhoeae contains antibiotics;
vancomycin, colistin, and nystatin.
2. Mannitol Salt Agar and Salt Milk Agar used to recover S.aureus contains 10% NaCl.
3. Potassium tellurite medium used to recover C.diphtheriae contains 0.04% potassium
tellurite.
4. MacConkey’s Agar used for Enterobacteriaceae members, contains bile salt that
inhibits most gram-positive bacteria.
5. Pseudosel Agar (cetrimide agar) used to recover Pseudomonas aeruginosa contains
cetrimide (antiseptic agent).
6. Crystal Violet Blood Agar used to recover S. pyogenes contains 0.0002% crystal violet.
7. Lowenstein Jensen Medium used to recover M.tuberculosis is made selective by
incorporating malachite green.
8. Wilson and Blair’s Agar for recovering S. typhi is rendered selective by the addition of
dye brilliant green.
9. Selective media such as TCBS Agar for isolating Vibrio cholerae from fecal specimens
have elevated pH (8.5-8.6), inhibiting most other bacteria.

11. 4. Enrichment Media
The enrichment medium increases the relative
concentration of specific microorganisms in
the culture before plating on a solid selective
medium. Unlike selective media, enrichment
culture is typically used as a broth medium.
Enrichment media are liquid media that also
serves to inhibit commensals in the clinical
specimen. Selenite F broth, tetrathionate
broth, and alkaline peptone water
(APW) recover pathogens from fecal samples.
Example of Enriched media
Selenite F-broth does the isolation of
Salmonella Typhi from a fecal sample.
Selenium allows the growth of desired
organisms and, detection levels increase for
intestinal flora. .

12. 5. Differential/Indicator Media
Certain media are designed to recognize different
bacteria based on their colony color. Various approaches
include incorporating dyes, metabolic substrates, etc.,
so those bacteria that utilize them appear as differently
colored colonies. Such media are called differential
media or indicator media. Differential media allow the
growth of more than one microorganism of interest but
with morphologically distinguishable colonies.
Examples of differential media include:
• Mannitol salts agar (mannitol fermentation = yellow)
• Blood agar (various kinds of hemolysis i.e., α, β and γ
hemolysis)
• MacConkey agar (lactose fermenters, pink colonies
whereas, non-lactose fermenter produces pale or
colorless colonies.
• TCBS (Vibrio cholerae produces yellow colonies due to
fermentation of sucrose)

13. 6. Transport Media
Clinical specimens must be transported to the laboratory
immediately after collection to prevent overgrowth of
contaminating organisms or commensals and maintain the
viability of the potential pathogens. This can be achieved by
using transport media. Such media prevent drying (desiccation)
of a specimen, maintain the pathogen to commensal ratio, and
inhibit the overgrowth of unwanted bacteria. Some of these
media (Stuart’s & Amie’s) are semi-solid. The addition of
charcoal serves to neutralize inhibitory factors.
• Cary Blair transport medium and Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
(VR) medium transport feces from suspected cholera patients.
• Sach’s buffered glycerol saline is used to transport feces from
patients suspected of suffering from bacillary dysentery.
• Pike’s medium is used to transport streptococci from throat
specimens.

14. 7. Storage media
It maintains the
longevity of bacterial
culture.
Examples are- cooked
meat broth, NA egg
saline.

15. 1. Aerobic media
In this media, it is easy to cultivate
microbes, on solid media, the
growth occurs by keeping the
culture in the incubator. It shows the
growth; of non-fastidious
microorganisms.
Examples of aerobic
media are-
liquid media, solid media
• Peptone water- 1%peptone +
0.5% Nacl +100ml water.
• Nutrient agar- nutrient broth +2%
agar.

16. 2. Anaerobic media
The media cultivates anaerobic bacteria
at low oxygen, reducing oxidation-
reduction potential. Anaerobic media
contains extra nutrients like vitamin K,
hemin, and oxygen that get reduced by a
physical or chemical process. The
addition of glucose (1%),
thioglycollate(0.1%), ascorbic acid
(0.1%), cysteine (0.05%), or iron fillings
added to cause the medium to reduce.
The medium is boiled in a water bath to
force out dissolved oxygen and packed
with sterile paraffin.
Examples of Anaerobic media
• RCM (Robertson cooked meat)
isolation for Clostridium sp.
• Thioglycolate broth– It has sodium
glycolate that maintains low oxygen.

17. Application of culture media
• To culture microbes.
• To identify the cause of infection.
• To identify characteristics of microorganisms.
• To isolate pure culture.
• To store the culture stock.
• To observe biochemical reactions.
• To test microbial contamination in any sample.
• To check antimicrobial agents and preservatives effect.
• To observe microbe colony type, its color, shape, cause.
• To differentiate between different colonies.
• To create antigens for laboratory use.
• To estimate viable count.
• To test antibiotic sensitivity.

18. Limitations of culture media
• Risk of cross-contamination.
• High skill required for optimal
results.
• Increased drying out of media can
occur.

19. Thank you