Culture medium Components/Comments Purpose
Alkaline peptone broth Vibrio
Bile esculin agar Nutrient agar base with ferric citrate. Enterococci and Group D Streptococci
Hydrolysis of esculin by group D streptococci
imparts a brown color to medium; sodium
deoxycholate inhibits many bacteria
Bismuth sulfite agar Selective media for Salmonella (stool)
Blood agar – most bacteriology Trypticase soy agar, Brucella agar, or beef Differentiation of hemolytic patterns; used for
specimens are inoculated to sheep heart infusion with 5% sheep blood fastidious organisms
blood agar (BA) plates because this
medium supports growth for all but the Alpha hemolysis – H2O2 produced by Alpha hemolytic - S. pneumoniae
most fastidious clinically significant bacteria oxidize hemoglobin to green Beta hemolytic – S. pyogenes and S.
bacteria. methemoglobin agalactiae
Gamma hemolytic – Group D streptococci and
enterococci
Bordet-Gengou agar Potato-glycerol-based medium enriched with Bordetella pertussis
15%-20% defibrinated blood; contaminant
inhibited by methicillin (final concentration of
2.5 um/mL)
Brilliant green agar Selective medium for Salmonella
Blood cysteine dextrose agar Francisella tularensis
Brain-heart infusion agar or broth Dextrose, pork brain, and heart dehydrated Cultivation of fastidious organisms
infusions
Buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE) Yeast extract, agar, charcoal, and salts Legionella spp.
supplemented with L-cysteine HCl, ferric Francisella and Nocardia spp.
pyrophosphate, ACES buffer, and alpha-
ketoglutarate
Buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE) BYCE supplemented with polymyxin B, Enrichment and selection for Legionella spp.
agar with antibiotics vancomycin, and ansamycin to inhibit gram-
negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria,
and yeast, respectively
Campy-blood agar Campylobacter spp.
Campy-thioglycollate broth Contains vancomycin (10 mg/L), Selective holding medium Campylobacter;
trimethoprim (5 mg/L), polymyxin B (2500 used for old enrichment technique (4℃)
U/L), amphotericin B (2 mg/L), and
cephalothin (15 mg/L) in a Brucella agar
base with sheep blood
CDC anaerobe 5% sheep blood agar Tryptic soy broth with phenyl-ethyl alcohol, Obligate, slow-growing anaerobe
5% sheep blood, and added nutrients
Cefoperazone vancomycin Blood-supplemented enrichment medium Campylobacter spp.
amphotericin (CVA) agar containing cefoperazone, vancomycin, and
amphotericin to inhibit growth of most gram-
negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria,
and yeast, respectively
Cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin (CIN) Peptone base with yeast extract, mannitol, Yersinia enterocolitica and Aeromonas
agar and bile salts; supplemented with cefsulodin,
irgasan and novobiocin neutral red and
crystal violet indicators
Cetrimide agar Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Chick embryo Rickettsia and chlamydia
Chocolate agar Peptone base, enriched with lysed red blood Neisseria, Haemophilus; for fastidious bacteria
cells which releases nutrients such as
hemoglobin, hemin (X factor), and the
coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
(NAD, or V factor) into the agar
!!To remember: X-min (X-men)
Chromogenic media Organism-specific nutrient base, selective Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
supplements, and chromogenic substrate (MRSA)
Columbia colistin-nalidixic acid (CAN) Columbia agar base with 10 mg colistin per Selective holding medium for Gram-positive
liter, 15 mg nalidixic acid per liter, and 5% cocci
sheep blood
Cystine tellurite blood agar (CTBA) Infusion agar base with 5% sheep blood, Corynebacterium diphtheriae
reduction of potassium tellurite by
Corynebacterium diphtheriae produces black
colonies
Cycloserine cefoxitin fructose agar Clostridium difficile
(CCFA) agar
Czapek agar Nocardia asteroides
Dorset egg medium Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Nocardia
asteroids
Desoxycholate citrate agar Salmonella and Shigella (stool specimen)
Dieudonne’s medium Vibrio cholerae
Dubos oleic agar Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Edward-Hayflick agar Mycoplasma
Eosin methylene blue (EMB) or Differential media for lactose fermenters (LF)
Levine’s medium and non-lactose fermenters (NLF)
Ellinghausen, McCullough, Johnson Leptospira interogans
and Harris (EMJH) medium
Fetal bovine serum agar with Haemophilus ducreyi
vancomycin
Footpads of mice Mycobacterium leprae
Gram-negative broth Peptone-base broth with glucose and Used for enteric pathogens like Salmonella
mannitol; sodium citrate and sodium and Shigella; selective and enrichment
deoxycholate act as inhibitory agents medium
Human blood Tween bilayer medium Gardnerella vaginalis
Hektoen enteric (HE) agar Peptone-base agar with bile salt, lactose, Differentiation of Salmonella and Shigella
sucrose, salicin, and ferric ammonium citrate;
indicators include bromothymol blue and acid Lactose fermenters – orange to salmon-
fuchsin colored colonies
Salmonella and Shigella spp. do not ferment
Ferric ammonium citrate is an indicator for lactose, glucose, or salicin, so no color change
the detection of H2S, so that H2S producing occurs and their colonies maintain the original
organisms can be visualized as colonies blue-green color of the medium
exhibiting a black precipitate
H2S producers – Salmonella, Proteus,
Arizonae, C. freundii, E. tarda
Kanamycin-vancomycin blood (KCV) Bacteroides
agar
Kelly’s medium Borrelia burgdorferi
Loeffler’s blood serum medium Animal tissue (heart muscle), dextrose, egg- Corynebacterium diphtheriae
and-beef serum, and sodium chloride
Lombard-Dowell medium Anaerobic organism
Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) agar Mycobacterium
Lysine-iron agar Enterobacteriaceae (deamination or
decarboxylation)
Litmus milk media Clostridium spp.
MacConkey (MAC) agar – the most Peptone base with lactose; gram-positive Differential medium for LF and NLF; selective
frequently used primary selective and organisms inhibited by crystal violet and bile for Gram-negative bacteria
differential agar salts; neutral red as indicator
Bacterial fermentation of lactose results in RAPID LF (EKE)
acid production, which decreases the pH of Escherichia, Klebsiella, Enterobacter
the medium and causes the neutral red
indicator to give bacterial colonies pink to red LATE LF – Citrobacter, Serratia, Y.
color enterocolitica, Hafnia, Salmonella arizonae,
Shigella sonnei
MacConkey (MAC) agar with sorbitol A modification of MacConkey agar in which E. coli O157:H7 (EHEC) in fecal specimen
lactose has been replaced with D-sorbitol as
the primary carbohydrate
Mannitol salt agar Peptone base, mannitol, and phenol red Staphylococcus aureus
indicator; salt concentration of 7.5% inhibits
most bacteria
McBride medium Listeria monocytogenes
Middlebrook 7H10 agar Mycobacteria
Martin-Lewis agar Neisseria gonorrhea
Mueller-Hinton agar Susceptibility test (antimicrobial testing)
Methylene blue milk Enterococcus
New York City (NYC) agar Peptone agar base with cornstarch, Neisseria gonorrhoeae
supplemented with yeast dialysate, 3%
hemoglobin, and horse plasma; antibiotic
supplement includes vancomycin (2 ug/mL),
colistin (5.5 ug/mL), amphotericin B, (1.2
ug/mL), and trimethoprim (3 ug/mL)
Oxidative-Fermentative (OF) medium Differential media for aerobes and anaerobes
and selective medium for Campylobacter and
Helicobacter
Phenylethyl alcohol (PEA) agar Nutrient agar base; phenylethyl alcohol Selective isolation of aerobic gram-positive
inhibits growth of gram-negative organisms cocci and bacilli and anaerobic gram-positive
cocci and gram-negative bacilli
Regan Lowe Charcoal agar supplemented with horse Enrichment and selective medium for isolation
blood, cephalexin, and amphotericin B B. pertussis
Salmonella-Shigella (SS) agar Peptone base with lactose, ferric citrate, and Selective for Salmonella and some Shigella
sodium citrate, neutral red indicator; indicator spp.
of coliforms by brilliant green and bile salts
Schaedler agar Peptone and soy protein base agar with Nonselective medium for the recovery of
yeast extract, dextrose, and buffers; addition anaerobes and aerobes
of hemin, L-cysteine, and 5% blood enriches Selective for Campylobacter spp. and
for anaerobes Helicobacter spp.
Selenite broth Peptone-base broth; sodium selenite toxic for Enrichment of isolation of Salmonella spp.
most Enterobacteriaceae
Skirrow agar Peptone and soy protein-base agar with Campylobacter spp.
lysed horse blood vancomycin inhibits gram-
positive organisms polymyxin B and
trimethoprim inhibit most gram-negative
organisms
Streptococcal selective agar (SSA) Contains crystal violet, colistin, and Selective for Streptococcus pyogenes and
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in 5% sheep Streptococcus agalactiae
blood agar base
Tetrathionate broth Peptone-bae broth; iodine and potassium Salmonella and Shigella spp.
iodide, bile salts, and sodium thiosulfate
inhibit gram-positive organisms and
Enterobacteriaceae
Thayer-Martin agar Blood agar base enriched with hemoglobin Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria
and supplement B; contaminating organisms meningitidis
inhibited by colisitin (gram -), vancomycin
(gram +), and nystatin (anti-fungal)
Modified Thayer-Martin (MTM) agar Contaminating organisms inhibited by colistin Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria
(gram -), vancomycin (gram +), nystatin (anti- meningitidis
fungal), and trimethoprim lactate (prevents
swarming by P.)
Martin-Lewis (ML) medium Contaminating organisms inhibited by colistin Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria
(gram -), increased conc of. vancomycin meningitidis
(gram +), anisomycin (anti-fungal), and
trimethoprim lactate
Thioglycollate broth – the enrichment Pancreatic digest of casein, soy broth, Aerobes and anaerobes
broth or semisolid media most vitamin K, hemin, and glucose enrich growth
frequently used in diagnostic of most organisms; includes reducing agents
bacteriology thioglycollate, cystine, and sodium sulfite,
semisolid medium with a low concentration
(0.075%) of agar reducing oxygen diffusion in
the medium
Thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose Peptone base agar with yeast extract, bile Vibrio
(TCBS) agar salts, citrate, sucrose, ferric citrate, and
sodium thiosulfate; bromothymol blue acts as
indicator
Tinsdale agar Corynebacterium diphtheriae
Todd-Hewitt broth (selective and Supplemented with nalidixic acid and Streptococcus agalactiae in female genital
enrichment) with nalidixic acid and gentamicin or colistin for greater selectivity; specimens
gentamicin or colistin thioglycollate and agar reduce redox
potential
Trypticase soy broth (TSB) All-purpose enrichment broth that can Blood culture bottle case
support the growth of many fastidious and
nonfastidious bacteria
Tyrosine agar Aerobic actinomycetes
Albumin Tween 80 broth Spirochetes
Xylose lysine deoxycholate (XLD) agar Yeast extract agar with lysine xylose, lactose, Salmonella and Shigella
sucrose, and ferric ammonium citrate;
sodium deoxycholate inhibits gram-positive
organisms; phenol red as indicator
