Question

Write a short paragraph to differentiate among the following: selective medium, differential medium, enriched medium.

Answer 1

Selective media :-

Selective media helps to isolate a particular microorganism. It contains inhibitory agents that are inhibitory to all organisms except the microorganism which has grown on the plate.

Example:- Mannitol salt agar, Macconkey agar.

Differential media :-

As the name suggests that it helps to differentiate the closely related microorganisms and this is done by the factors present in it, which distinguishes certain metabolic characteristics from the other species.  

Example :- Blood agar, Streptococcuseosm methylene blue.

Media can both be selective and differential media based on the ingredients of the medium.

Enriched media:- The media, contains all the nutrients which are required for the growth of the wide variety of organisms. It is a solid media. The nutrients, like egg yolk, blood, serum etc.,

Example :- Blood agar, Chocolate agar, Leoefflers serum etc.,