Bacteria cultures can be found in science labs of all types. Those dedicated to studying the microscopic world, whether professional or a student, can find plenty of use for bacteria cultures. Bacteria is similar to plants in that they will grow where the conditions are right. It is the bacteria culture's job to replicate these conditions.
Function
Bacteria cultures are media through which bacteria are grown. Food is contained in the bacteria culture, which encourages the bacteria to settle and grow. This is necessary when a particular strand of bacteria needs to be studied, whether the examination of a new strain of bacteria or an innocent experiment conducted in a high school biology class.
Types
Nutrient media contain foods, salts, various amino acids and nitrogen. Sometimes these nutrient media have defined amino acids, while other times these amino acids are undefined. Oftentimes, a special dye is added to a nutrient medium to observe the changes that occur in the nutrient. Then the bacteria growth can be examined by the naked eye or through a microscope.
Types
Minimal bacteria cultures have only minimal nutrients and no amino acids. These cultures are created with the hope that unusual and wild bacterium will grow. Scientists designing the minimal bacteria culture can try to prevent bacteria from exchanging their DNA and they can try to create artificial bacteria. Just like the nutrient media, minimal media have carbon, salt and water to feed the bacteria.
Types
Selective media try to grow specific bacteria by adding different amino acids, nutrients, antibodies and other chemicals. Sometimes certain bacteria that have useful properties can be grown. Sometimes genes are inserted into a particular microbe that will give that microbe resistance to an antibody. These selective media can be used to diagnose infections.
Types
There are a few other types of media that serve different purposes. The differential media is used to differentiate one bacteria from another. There are transport media that are used to move bacteria from one location to another. To prevent bacteria multiplication, these cultures only have salt. Finally, the enriched media contain a variety of nutrients designed to grow a large variety of bacterium in one culture.
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