MERCK culture medium

Merck Merck Culture Media

Culture medium or growth medium is a liquid or gel designed for the growth of microorganisms, cells or small plants. Cell culture medium is generally a good source of energy and compounds that regulate the cell cycle. A normal culture medium contains various compounds such as amino acids, vitamins, mineral salts, glucose, serum and hormones for the growth of organisms. Natural culture mediums are biological fluids that are very useful for the growth of a wide range of animal cells. These environments are not reproducible due to the unknown composition of the media, and this is one of the disadvantages of using them in cell culture. Types of natural culture media include biological fluids, tissue extracts and plasma.

What is an artificial medium?

Artificial (synthetic) culture media are formed by combining nutrients (organic and inorganic materials) including vitamins, salts, oxygen and carbon dioxide gases, serum proteins, carbohydrates and cofactors. Different artificial culture media are made for different purposes, including the following:

Short-term cell viability: a salt solution with balanced pH and osmotic pressure.
Long-term cell viability: a balanced salt solution with the formulation of organic compounds and serum.
Cell growth and proliferation: these types of culture media contain the materials needed to increase the number of cells and cell division. There are cell products that these materials made by organisms can be purified after the culture process is completed.

Culture media are divided into different types based on their use in the laboratory, which include cell growth, proliferation of specific organisms, separation of different cells, transfer of samples and prevention of their contamination, as well as long-term storage of cells. "Basal Media": It is used for the growth of bacteria that do not need special environments. For example, we can mention "Nutrient Broth", "Nutrient Agar" and "Peptone Water". Staphylococcus and Enterobacter grow in these media. "Enriched Media": This type of media such as "Blood Agar" is usually enriched using blood or serum and is used for growth and reproduction. Special microorganisms are used. Streptococcus grows in this type of environment.

"Selective media": This type of media facilitates the growth of a specific strain of bacteria by inhibiting the growth of other bacteria. Antibiotics can be added to these environments. Examples of selective culture media are MacConkey Agar and Tellurite Media. The medium of tellurite inhibits the growth of all bacteria in the throat cavity except the diphtheria bacillus.
"Differential culture medium": This medium is used for the differentiation and separation of cells during growth. EMB medium is a type of differential medium. "Transport media": It is used to transfer and move the desired strain and the growth and reproduction of organisms does not take place in it. Such environments are used to prevent samples from drying out and to transport them more easily to the laboratory. Examples of this culture medium are "Cary-Blair" and "Amies". It is used, like "Egg Saline" environment.