title: Evaluation of two chromogenic agar media for recovery and identification of Staphylococcus aureus small-colony variants.
abstract: To identify the most rapid and reliable technique for recovery and identification of Staphylococcus aureus small-colony variants (SCVs), the colonial appearance of 106 isolates representing SCVs and the normal phenotype were evaluated on two newly described chromogenic agar media. Although almost all of the SCVs grew on the chromogenic agar media, they did not exhibit a change of color. In comparison with conventional media, S. aureus ID agar (SAID; bioMerieux, La Balme Les Grottes, France) showed the most reliable results, with 49 of 53 SCVs tested growing either as an SCV colony or with a normal phenotype after only 24 h of incubation. Growth of SCVs was often not detected before 72 h of incubation on some of the media tested. In conclusion, the most accurate and rapid method to detect both the species S. aureus and the SCV phenotype is to inoculate specimens onto both Columbia blood agar and SAID.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital of Münster, Domagkstrasse 10, 48149 Münster, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kipp
authors.forename: Barbara C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kahl
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: Ellen J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Baron
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Proctor
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: von Eiff
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002863:Chromogenic Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D002863:Chromogenic Compounds; D003470:Culture Media; D000362:Agar