Enrichment culture

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Enrichment culture is the use of certain growth media to favor the growth of a particular microorganism over others, enriching a sample for the microorganism of interest. This is generally done by introducing nutrients or environmental conditions that only allow the growth of an organism of interest. Enrichment cultures are used to increase a small number of desired organisms to detectable levels. This allows for the detection and identification of microorganisms with a variety of nutritional needs. [1] Enrichment cultures are often used for soil and fecal samples. [2]

Contents

History

The microbiologist (and botanist) Martinus Beijerinck is credited with developing the first enrichment cultures. [3] Sergei Winogradsky also experimented on bacteria using different cultures. [4]

Examples

Media with a high salt concentration will select for halophiles.

Selenite broth is used to selectively isolate Salmonella species. Alkaline Peptone Water is used for the cultivation of vibrio. [5] Both these examples are clinically relevant for clinical microbiology relating to stool samples.

See also

Related Research Articles

Robert Koch 19th and 20th-century German physician and bacteriologist

Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch was a German physician and microbiologist. As one of the main founders of modern bacteriology, he identified the specific causative agents of tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax and also gave experimental support for the concept of infectious disease, which included experiments on humans and animals. Koch created and improved laboratory technologies and techniques in the field of microbiology, and made key discoveries in public health. His research led to the creation of Koch's postulates, a series of four generalized principles linking specific microorganisms to specific diseases that proved influential on subsequent epidemiological principles such as the Bradford Hill criteria. For his research on tuberculosis, Koch received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1905. The Robert Koch Institute is named in his honour.

Microorganism Microscopic living organism

A microorganism, or microbe, is a microscopic organism, which may exist in its single-celled form or a colony of cells.

An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. It may react negatively or even die if free oxygen is present. In contrast, an aerobic organism (aerobe) is an organism that requires an oxygenated environment. Anaerobes may be unicellular or multicellular. Most fungi are obligate aerobes, requiring oxygen to survive, however some species, such as the Chytridiomycota that reside in the rumen of cattle, are obligate anaerobes; for these species, anaerobic respiration is used because oxygen will disrupt their metabolism or kill them.

Martinus Beijerinck

Martinus Willem Beijerinck was a Dutch microbiologist and botanist who was one of the founders of virology and environmental microbiology. He is credited with the conceptual discovery of viruses, which he called Contagium vivum fluidum.

Agar plate

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Bacteriological water analysis

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Microbial ecology Study of the relationship of microorganisms with their environment

Microbial ecology is the ecology of microorganisms: their relationship with one another and with their environment. It concerns the three major domains of life—Eukaryota, Archaea, and Bacteria—as well as viruses.

Blood culture Test to detect bloodstream infections

A blood culture is a medical laboratory test used to detect bacteria or fungi in a person's blood. Blood is normally sterile, and the presence of microbes in the blood can indicate a bloodstream infection such as bacteremia or fungemia, which in severe cases may result in sepsis. By culturing the blood, microbes can be identified and tested for resistance to antimicrobial drugs, which allows clinicians to provide an effective treatment.

Growth medium Solid, liquid or gel used to grow microorganisms or cells

A growth medium or culture medium is a solid, liquid or semi-solid designed to support the growth of a population of microorganisms or cells via the process of cell proliferation, or small plants like the moss Physcomitrella patens. Different types of media are used for growing different types of cells.

Sergei Winogradsky

Sergei Nikolaievich Winogradsky was a Russian microbiologist, ecologist and soil scientist who pioneered the cycle-of-life concept.

Winogradsky column

The Winogradsky column is a simple device for culturing a large diversity of microorganisms. Invented in the 1880s by Sergei Winogradsky, the device is a column of pond mud and water mixed with a carbon source such as newspaper, blackened marshmallows or egg-shells, and a sulfur source such as gypsum or egg yolk. Incubating the column in sunlight for months results in an aerobic/anaerobic gradient as well as a sulfide gradient. These two gradients promote the growth of different microorganisms such as Clostridium, Desulfovibrio, Chlorobium, Chromatium, Rhodomicrobium, and Beggiatoa, as well as many other species of bacteria, cyanobacteria, and algae.

Streaking (microbiology)

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Brain heart infusion

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Sabouraud agar

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Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, those being unicellular, multicellular, or acellular. Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, protistology, mycology, immunology and parasitology.

Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) is intended for the detection and recovery of mycobacteria. The MGIT Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube contains 7 mL of modified Middlebrook 7H9 Broth base. The complete medium, with OADC enrichment and PANTA antibiotic mixture, is one of the most commonly used liquid media for the cultivation of mycobacteria.

Granada medium

Granada medium is a selective and differential culture medium designed to selectively isolate Streptococcus agalactiae and differentiate it from other microorganisms. Granada Medium was developed by Dr. Manuel Rosa-Fraile et al. at the Service of Microbiology in the Hospital Virgen de las Nieves in Granada (Spain).

In microbiology, the term isolation refers to the separation of a strain from a natural, mixed population of living microbes, as present in the environment, for example in water or soil flora, or from living beings with skin flora, oral flora or gut flora, in order to identify the microbe(s) of interest. Historically, the laboratory techniques of isolation first developed in the field of bacteriology and parasitology, before those in virology during the 20th century. Methods of microbial isolation have drastically changed over the past 50 years, from a labor perspective with increasing mechanization, and in regard to the technology involved, and hence speed and accuracy.

Diagnostic microbiology is the study of microbial identification. Since the discovery of the germ theory of disease, scientists have been finding ways to harvest specific organisms. Using methods such as differential media or genome sequencing, physicians and scientists can observe novel functions in organisms for more effective and accurate diagnosis of organisms. Methods used in diagnostic microbiology are often used to take advantage of a particular difference in organisms and attain information about what species it can be identified as, which is often through a reference of previous studies. New studies provide information that others can reference so that scientists can attain a basic understanding of the organism they are examining.

Vasily Leonidovitch Omelianski

Vasily Leonidovich Omelianski was a Russian microbiologist and author of the first original Russian text book on microbiology. He was the only student of Sergei Winogradsky and succeeded him as head of the department of General Microbiology at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in Saint Petersburg.

References

  1. Schlegel, Hans G. (1995). General microbiology (7 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 204–205. ISBN   978-0521439800.
  2. Tortora, Gerard J., Berdell R. Funke, and Christine L. Case. (2014). "Microbioligy: An Introduction" 12e. New York City, New York: Pearson Education. // 161.
  3. Beijerinck, Martinus W. (1901). "Anhaufungsversuche mit Ureumbakterien". Centralblatt F. Bakteriologie, II. 7: 33–61.
  4. Winogradsky, Sergei (1890). "Sur les organismes de la nitrification". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences. 110: 1013–1016.
  5. "Product Center: Alkaline Peptone Water (for Vibrio), 8 mL" . Retrieved 28 August 2012.