Columbia Agar Base

LAB 1

Description

A general purpose nutritious agar base formulated by Ellner et al. When further enriched by the addition of sterile blood, Columbia agar can be used for the isolation of most clinically significant pathogens. The blood can be ‘chocolated' if required. The medium can be made selective for various groups by the addition of appropriate antibiotic mixtures eg:

Streptococci - Colistin/Oxolinic acid (X013)

Gardnerella spp. - Colistin/Nalidixic acid (X011)

C. perfringens - Neomycin (XO15) (X016)

Campylobacters - (X214)

Staphylococci/streptococci - Colistin/Naladixic acid (X012)

References

Ellner, P.D., Stoessel, C.J., Drakeford, E and Vasi, F. (1966). A new culture medium for medical bacteriology. Amer. J. Clin Pathol., 45:502-504.

Goldberg, R.L., and Washington, J.A., (1976). Comparison of isolation of Haemophilus vaginalis (Corynebacterium vaginale) from Peptone-Starch-Dextrose Agar and Columbia Colistin-Nalidixic Acid Agar. J. Clin. Microbiol., 4:245-247.

Thayer, D.D. and Martin, H. E. (1966). An improved medium for the cultivation of N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis. Publ. Hlth. Report, 81:559-562.