Apocholate citrate agar (ACA) is a selective environment used to isolate Shigella and Salmonella bacteria. [1] The name derives from apocholate and citrate in agar.
Enterobacteriaceae is a large family of Gram-negative bacteria. It includes over 30 genera and more than 100 species. Its classification above the level of family is still a subject of debate, but one classification places it in the order Enterobacterales of the class Gammaproteobacteria in the phylum Pseudomonadota. In 2016, the description and members of this family were emended based on comparative genomic analyses by Adeolu et al.
Shigellosis is an infection of the intestines caused by Shigella bacteria. Symptoms generally start one to two days after exposure and include diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, and feeling the need to pass stools even when the bowels are empty. The diarrhea may be bloody. Symptoms typically last five to seven days and it may take several months before bowel habits return entirely to normal. Complications can include reactive arthritis, sepsis, seizures, and hemolytic uremic syndrome.
An agar plate is a Petri dish that contains a growth medium solidified with agar, used to culture microorganisms. Sometimes selective compounds are added to influence growth, such as antibiotics.
Eosin methylene blue is a selective stain for Gram-negative bacteria. EMB contains dyes that are toxic to Gram-positive bacteria. EMB is the selective and differential medium for coliforms. It is a blend of two stains, eosin and methylene blue in the ratio of 6:1. EMB is a differential microbiological medium, which slightly inhibits the growth of Gram-positive bacteria and provides a color indicator distinguishing between organisms that ferment lactose and those that do not. Organisms that ferment lactose display "nucleated colonies"—colonies with dark centers.
MacConkey agar is a selective and differential culture medium for bacteria. It is designed to selectively isolate Gram-negative and enteric bacteria and differentiate them based on lactose fermentation. Lactose fermenters turn red or pink on MacConkey agar, and nonfermenters do not change color. The media inhibits growth of Gram-positive organisms with crystal violet and bile salts, allowing for the selection and isolation of gram-negative bacteria. The media detects lactose fermentation by enteric bacteria with the pH indicator neutral red.
A serotype or serovar is a distinct variation within a species of bacteria or virus or among immune cells of different individuals. These microorganisms, viruses, or cells are classified together based on their surface antigens, allowing the epidemiologic classification of organisms to a level below the species. A group of serovars with common antigens is called a serogroup or sometimes serocomplex.
Shigella dysenteriae is a species of the rod-shaped bacterial genus Shigella. Shigella species can cause shigellosis. Shigellae are Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, facultatively anaerobic, nonmotile bacteria. S. dysenteriae has the ability to invade and replicate in various species of epithelial cells and enterocytes.
Bacillary dysentery is a type of dysentery, and is a severe form of shigellosis. It is associated with species of bacteria from the family Enterobacteriaceae. The term is usually restricted to Shigella infections.
Sorbitol-MacConkey agar is a variant of traditional MacConkey agar used in the detection of E. coli O157:H7. Traditionally, MacConkey agar has been used to distinguish those bacteria that ferment lactose from those that do not. This is important because gut bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, can typically ferment lactose, while important gut pathogens, such as Salmonella enterica and most shigellas are unable to ferment lactose. Shigella sonnei can ferment lactose, but only after prolonged incubation, so it is referred to as a late-lactose fermenter.
DCA agar is a solid bacteriological growth medium used for isolation of enteric pathogens.
Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate agar is a selective growth medium used in the isolation of Salmonella and Shigella species from clinical samples and from food. The agar was developed by Welton Taylor in 1965. It has a pH of approximately 7.4, leaving it with a bright pink or red appearance due to the indicator phenol red. Sugar fermentation lowers the pH and the phenol red indicator registers this by changing to yellow. Most gut bacteria, including Salmonella, can ferment the sugar xylose to produce acid; Shigella colonies cannot do this and therefore remain red. After exhausting the xylose supply Salmonella colonies will decarboxylate lysine, increasing the pH once again to alkaline and mimicking the red Shigella colonies. Salmonellae metabolise thiosulfate to produce hydrogen sulfide, which leads to the formation of colonies with black centers and allows them to be differentiated from the similarly coloured Shigella colonies.
Simmons' citrate agar is used for differentiating gram-negative bacteria on the basis of citrate utilization, especially for distinguishing Gammaproteobacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae or even between species of the same genus. For example, Salmonella enteritidis would yield a positive (blue) result on Simmons’ agar and thus be distinguished from other Salmonella species like Salmonella typhi, Salmonella pullorum, and Salmonella gallinarum, which would yield a negative (green) result.

The type III secretion system, also called the injectisome, is one of the bacterial secretion systems used by bacteria to secrete their effector proteins into the host's cells to promote virulence and colonisation. The T3SS is a needle-like protein complex found in several species of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria.
The Triple Sugar Iron (TSI) test is a microbiological test roughly named for its ability to test a microorganism's ability to ferment sugars and to produce hydrogen sulfide. It is often used to differentiate enteric bacteria including Salmonella and Shigella.
Hektoen enteric agar is a selective and differential agar primarily used to recover Salmonella and Shigella from patient specimens. HEA contains indicators of lactose fermentation and hydrogen sulfide production; as well as inhibitors to prevent the growth of Gram-positive bacteria. It is named after the Hektoen Institute in Chicago, where researchers developed the agar.
A bacillus, also called a bacilliform bacterium or often just a rod, is a rod-shaped bacterium or archaeon. Bacilli are found in many different taxonomic groups of bacteria. However, the name Bacillus, capitalized and italicized, refers to a specific genus of bacteria. The name Bacilli, capitalized but not italicized, can also refer to a less specific taxonomic group of bacteria that includes two orders, one of which contains the genus Bacillus. When the word is formatted with lowercase and not italicized, 'bacillus', it will most likely be referring to shape and not to the genus at all. Bacilliform bacteria are also often simply called rods when the bacteriologic context is clear.
Apocholic acid is an unsaturated bile acid first characterized in the 1920s. It has questionable carcinogenic activity as experimentally, sarcomas were induced in mice with injection of deoxycholic acid.
Voges–Proskauer or VP is a test used to detect acetoin in a bacterial broth culture. The test is performed by adding alpha-naphthol and potassium hydroxide to the Voges-Proskauer broth, which is a glucose-phosphate broth that has been inoculated with bacteria. A cherry red color indicates a positive result, while a yellow-brown color indicates a negative result.
Phage typing is a phenotypic method that uses bacteriophages for detecting and identifying single strains of bacteria. Phages are viruses that infect bacteria and may lead to bacterial cell lysis. The bacterial strain is assigned a type based on its lysis pattern. Phage typing was used to trace the source of infectious outbreaks throughout the 1900s, but it has been replaced by genotypic methods such as whole genome sequencing for epidemiological characterization.
Welton Ivan Taylor was an American microbiologist, inventor and civil rights activist. He is known for his work on food-borne pathogens, notably for developing tests for Salmonella and for inventing the XLD agar, which can be used to isolate Salmonella and Shigella bacteria.