What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate whether the routine co-autoclaving of agar and phosphate inhibits microbial growth and contributes to the great plate count anomaly.

October 4, 2014Applied and Environmental MicrobiologyOpen Access

A Hidden Pitfall in the Preparation of Agar Media Undermines Microorganism Cultivability

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Authors

TTTomohiro TanakaUniversity of Iowa KKKosei KawasakiNational Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology SDSerina DaimonHokkaido University

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Implication

Laboratory study demonstrates that co-autoclaving phosphate with agar suppresses microbial growth through hydrogen peroxide formation, indicating that separate autoclaving increases cultivability.

Key Points

To investigate whether the routine co-autoclaving of agar and phosphate inhibits microbial growth and contributes to the great plate count anomaly.
Prepared solid growth media by either autoclaving phosphate and agar together (PT medium) or autoclaving them separately before mixing (PS medium).
Inoculated plates with pure cultures of Gemmatimonas aurantiaca T-27(T) and environmental samples derived from soil, sediment, and water.
Assayed agar media chemically for growth inhibitors and profiled recovered isolates using 454 pyrosequencing relative to native environmental communities.
Colony-forming unit yields were consistently higher on PS medium compared to PT medium across pure G. aurantiaca cultures and all environmental samples.
Chemical analysis revealed that autoclaving phosphate together with agar generated hydrogen peroxide, which inhibited microbial growth.
Pyrosequencing demonstrated that communities cultivated on PS medium more accurately reflected original environmental community structures and supported previously uncultivated taxa.

Cite This Study

Tanaka et al. (2014) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a708cacabc331a858079b39 https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02741-14

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Implication

Laboratory study demonstrates that co-autoclaving phosphate with agar suppresses microbial growth through hydrogen peroxide formation, indicating that separate autoclaving increases cultivability.

A Hidden Pitfall in the Preparation of Agar Media Undermines Microorganism Cultivability

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

A Hidden Pitfall in the Preparation of Agar Media Undermines Microorganism Cultivability

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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