Question

Which of the following pathogens is an obligate intracellular parasite and, therefore, not culturable on standard laboratory media?

Question 52 options:

	Neisseria meningitidis
	Staphylococcus aureus
	Salmonella enterica
	Neisseria gonorrhoeae
	Chlamydia trachomatis

Answer 1

Answer : Option (5)- Chlamydia trachomatis

Explanation : Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular bacteria. They require to grow inside mammalian cells so that they can spread and survive. Due to their special growth requirements they are not culturable on standard laboratory media.

So, Option (5) is the right answer.

Option (1) is not the right answer as Neisseria meningitidis can be cultured using standard blood agar media or chocolate agar media.

Option (2) is not the right answer as Staphylococcus aureus can easily be cultured on several standard bacteriological media.

Option (3) is not the right answer as Salmonella enterica can be grown on some standard bacteriological media. Eg. MacConkey agar.

Option (4) is not the right answer as Neisseria gonorrhoeae can be cultured easily on some of the standard enriched bacteriological media. Eg. Phayer-Mardin agar.