On Sep 16, 8:13*am, Tim Lysyk wrote:
On 16/09/2010 6:19 AM, --riverman wrote:



There are various agar recipes? I thought agar was agar.

-riverman

Agar is the gelatinous base used as an ingredient for microbiological
media. It can be, and is, variously modified using a variety of
nutrients (some defined, some not) to suit the task the media are needed
for.

Also often modified with things that are manifestly NOT
nutrients.....depends on what what wants to grow.....and NOT grow. A
classic example woult be testing a new antibiotic. Some plates would
be prepared without the antibiotic and some with, for the obvious
reason.

The handbook of Microbiological Media by Atlas lists some 4000 recipes.

Tim Lysyk

And it's a dead certainty that they've missed more than just a few.
Aside from the competition for funding, some people are just downright
secretive, withholding any and all information they can until
publication. And even then many are not as forthcoming as one would
hope (and as they should be) about all manner of things. Many a paper
has been published in many a respected peer reviewed journal with
lacunae that should have disqualified it. Sometimes makes a boy
wonder who is blowing whom.

giles