BNO Team 
11 min read 
Ashdown’s medium can be described as a selective culture medium that allows for the identification and characterisation of Burkholderia pseudomallei (the bacteria which causes the disease melioidosis). The Ashdown’s Medium was initially identified by LR Ashdown in 1979.
15 min read 
Bird Seed Agar Bird Seed Agar is an effective solid medium to isolate selectively and differentially of Cryptococcus Neoformans from clinical specimens. It is utilized for the specific isolation from Cryptococcus neoformans as well as C. Gattii. C. Neoformans typically grows as yeast (unicellular) and reproduces via budding. Cryptococcus Neoformans is an enclosed yeast, which makes the enzyme phenoloxidase an enzyme that is essential to melanin production.
5 min read 
The process of growing an organism in the surface of a medium is known as culture. The food source that supports the development of the organism is known as a culture medium. The media for culture are designed so that the organism will receive all the nutrition requirements. However, the media for culture are made in laboratories by weighing and dispensing particular ingredients or by purchasing ready-made media on the market. The majority of the media include organic as well as inorganic nutrients. However, to cultivate a variety of microorganisms, special media are created. If the media is to be solidified required, agar-agar can be mixed with other ingredients. The culture media can be classified into three categories that include semi-synthetic, natural and synthetic media each of which is employed for microbiological studies.
16 min read 
Brucella is an intracellular parasite which causes epizootic abortions for animals, and septicemic febrile disease or localized infections of tissues, bones or organ systems of humans. Brucella species are very meticulous and require a rich nutrient environment to develop. Additionally, Brucella species are highly infectious, and therefore extreme caution should be exercised when handling.
14 min read 
Coliforms are all facultative and aerobic rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-spore-forming bacteria that produce lactose by fermentation with gas and acid production within 48 hours, at temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius. Methods to identify, enumerate and presumedly identify coliforms are utilized in the testing of dairy and food products. One method of performing the presumptive test to identify coliforms employs the Violet Red Bile Agar (VRBA). The Violet Red Bile Aggar (VRBA) is an selec-tive medium that can be used to detect and quantify lactose-fermenting coliform microorganisms.
16 min read 
Tryptic Soy Agar can be used to grow microorganisms. These media are non-selective and general-purpose. They provide enough nutrients to support a variety of microorganisms. This medium can also be used to grow, store, maintain, and transport pure microorganism cultures.
5 min read 
Baird Parker Agar was created by Baird Parker using the Tellurite–glycine formulation of Zebovitz et al. It allows for a good differentiation between coagulase positive strains.
11 min read 
Yeasts, unicellular eukaryotes, are a well-studied model organism in molecular genomics. They are chemoorganotrophs because they use organic compounds for energy. Yeast extract peptone, or YEPD), Growth Agar is used to maintain and propagate yeasts. YPD is a complete medium that allows for yeast growth.
18 min read 
Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB), a microbiological media, is a differentiating medium that slightly inhibits the growth and color of Gram-positive bacteria. It also provides a color indicator to distinguish between organisms that ferment lactose (e.g. E.coli) and those who do not (e.g. Salmonella, Shigella). Holt-Harris, Teague, and Levine first created EMB agar.
11 min read 
For the cultivation of Haemophilus, Levinthal’s Medium can be used. Although there are many species in the genus Haemophilus that can cause infections, they all share a common morphology. They also require blood-derived factors for growth. This is what gave the genus its name. The Haemophilus Genus is a large grouping of gram-negative rods, which can grow on agar-containing human blood. Two factors are required for Haemophilus species to grow: factor-X, and factor-V.