Back to the kitchen: food-grade agar is a low-cost alternative to bacteriological agar.
Food-grade agar can be used as a low-cost substitute for bacteriological agar in the preparation of solid microbial media. No difference was observed in the colony morphology, growth rate, or viability of bacteria grown on solid media prepared using food-grade agar as compared with using bacteriological-grade agar. This simple tip can reduce the cost of the most common solid media by 80% or more.
La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo, VIC 3550, Australia.
Steve
S
Petrovski
Daniel
D
Tillett
D000362:Agar / Q000737:chemistry / Q000191:economics*; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D052978:Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000254:growth & development; D013752:Tetracycline / Q000494:pharmacology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000362:Agar; D013752:Tetracycline