Agarova culture

Agar culture is a method of growing microorganisms on a nutrient medium containing agar. Agar is a polysaccharide derived from algae that is used to create a solid growing medium.

When microorganisms are grown on agar, the cells are evenly distributed over the surface of the medium. This allows the morphology, physiology and other properties of individual colonies to be observed.

Agar cultures are widely used in microbiology for:

1. Isolation of pure cultures of microorganisms
2. Antibiotic sensitivity determinations
3. Metabolism and enzymatic activity studies
4. Viable cell counting
5. Storage of microorganism strains

The advantages of agar cultures are ease of use, the ability to obtain isolated colonies and observe morphology. The main disadvantage is the impossibility of simulating the natural living conditions of microbes.

Thus, agar cultures are an indispensable tool for studying the properties of microorganisms in the laboratory. Their use allows one to obtain important information about the physiology, metabolism and genetics of microbes.

Agar is a biological product: it is a gel that is obtained from plant or animal raw materials. The gel is used to prepare microbial cultures. A microbial culture in the form of a gel is added to the nutrient medium or processed together with it. Examples of agar media: meat-extract agar, chalk, puddle. The material for preparing agar is a bacterial mass formed when a broth with beneficial microorganisms grown in it is brought to a boil and covered with a lid. In this case, the useful crop becomes a substrate and continues to multiply. To make an agar medium, take 90 g of lactic acid meat or 50 g of tryptophan, 2-15 g of starch and water. The dishes where the agar substance is prepared are pre-sterilized. The containers where the agar liquid is poured are also sterilized to prevent it from turning sour.

Agar dilution was the first important advance in the field of microbial research, and the preparation and use of culture media became the practical basis for further development of work in the microbial field.

Nutrient media can be divided into two types: artificial and natural. Their main characteristics are listed in the table. Artificial nutrient media Natural nutrient media | |External preparation |Contamination