BacterTube™ TSB 6,5% NaCl

INTENDED USE

BacterTube™ TSB 6,5% NaCl is a growth medium recommended for the differentiation of enterococci from the group D streptococci. This medium is also useful as an enrichment step for increasing sensitivity in the detection of MRSA in high risk patient.

PRINCIPLES

Pancreatic Digest of Casein & Soybean Meal: Provide nitrogenous compounds and amino acids to support bacterial growth.
Sodium Chloride (6.5%): Acts selectively to differentiate salt-tolerant Enterococcus species by interfering with membrane permeability and osmotic balance.
Dextrose: Serves as a carbon source to enhance growth.
Dipotassium Phosphate: Functions as a buffering agent to maintain pH stability.

Inoculate tubes lightly with suspect bacterium.
- Using a single colony, lightly inoculate the side of the tube, just at the surface of the broth, so as not to over-inoculate the sample. Alternatively, inoculate tubes using a 0.01ml loop with a 10^-1 dilution of 18 – 24 hour primary cultures.
- Swab specimens from high – risk patients may be directly inserted into the medium as in enrichment for MRSA.
Incubate tubes aerobically with loosed caps at 35 +/- 2ºC. for 18 – 24 hours.
Examine tubes at 18 – 24 hours and 42 – 48 hours for growth (turbidity). It may be necessary to compare tubes to an uninoculated control tube to determine if growth is present. Growth may be present with or without the formation of a precipitate.

RESULTS

Positive Reaction: Presence of turbidity indicates salt tolerance (e.g., Enterococcus faecalis or MRSA).
Negative Reaction: Lack of turbidity indicates salt intolerance (e.g., group D streptococci

BacterLab ensures the quality of each product batch by testing with ATCC reference strains.