Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,

I was planning on using Staphylococcus epidermidis for a research project and just wanted to make sure that I was was maintaining them correctly. My plan was once they arrive from Carolina, with two day shipping, I was panning to transfer some of the bacteria into Luria broth (8 different 3 mL vials) in order to grow the bacteria and have a constant reserve of the bacteria. Then, when ready for experimentation, I would transfer the bacteria to petri dishes with salt mannitol agar to ensure that S. epidermidis was the only bacteria that grew since mannitol salt agar only allows growth of Staphylococcus bacteria. Does this proceddure sound solid and correct? Thank you so much for your time and help! Have a nice day.

Hi Atreya,

Yes, your procedure is fine. Just try to keep everything as sterile as possible as you work. The culture from Carolina Bio should contain only S epidermidis but using the selective agar is still a good idea to inhibit growth of any contaminanting bacteria or fungi from the air.

If you like, you can send us the other details of your project and we can check them too and make sure everything is set up correctly.

Sybee

Hello,

I'm not 100% sure that Luria broth will allow a lot of growth of S. epidermidis, but I do know that Todd Hewitt Broth is usually used for Staphylococcus aureus. This may be a better alternative medium to use to culture your strain. You can use salt mannitol agar afterwards, but unlike Staphylococcus aureus, the area around the bacteria will stay red, rather than turn yellow.

The Carolina website has information on how to maintain the bacteria. I have attached the link here: http://www.carolina.com/bacteria/staphy ... ylococcus+

Under the "Resources" tab, there is a pdf on how to maintain bacterial cultures, and a short video as well. Hopefully that can provide you with more information!

Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other questions!

Regards,
Surya