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By definition, a selective medium is a medium that contains a substance that inhibits the growth of some types of bacteria but doesn't affect the growth of other types of bacteria (this is may be required when you want to isolate a specific type of bacteria from a specimen that contains other types of bacteria). Nutrient agar medium contains the following ingredients: peptone, meat extract, yeast extract, NaCl and agar. Nutrient agar doesn't contain any inhibitory substance for bacteria, therefore, it is not considered selective and instead it is called all-purpose medium. Answer An alternative definition of selective media is a media which allows the growth of some organisms whilst supressing the growth of others. Whilst nutrient agar contains no ingredients designed to supress growth, the composition is not suitable for the growth of certain microbes (fastidious bacteria) and so can be considered selective on this basis. For a case example try Mycobacterium lepraewhich is generally culitaved on living tissue rather than agar media. Nutriet agar is therefore selective in that certain microbes cannot grow on it. However, nutirent agar is generally considered the least selective media avalible. The confusion in answering the question arises in the catagories used to classify media in textbooks. Nutirent agar is suitable for the growth the vast majority of culturable bacteria, (however, it is estimated that only around 5% of the worlds bacteria can be cultured in the lab at present). As nutirent agar is sutiable for the growth of so many bacteria it may be catagorised as an "all purpose" media due to its suitablity for many different applications. However to researchers investigating new areas it is important for "all purpose" not to be confused with "all bacteria" media due to its selectivity. In summary, nutrient agar is selective but is classified "all purpose" as it is designed to allow the growth of many different species.

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15y ago
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15y ago

McConkey is selective to gram, negative enteric bacteria because it contains bile salts which inhibit most gram positive bacteria. It also contains lactose which differentiates between gram negative lactose fermenter(E.coli)and Gram negative non-fermenters (salmonella). This is typically useful for testing water samples for coliform bacteria.

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7y ago

MAC is a differential medium, meaning that this medium differentiates or distinguishes between groups of bacteria on the basis of a color change reaction. MacConkey’s contains two additives that make it differential; neutral red (a pH indicator) and lactose (a disaccharide).

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4mo ago

No, nutrient agar is not selective. It is a general-purpose agar medium that supports the growth of a wide variety of microorganisms.

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9y ago

The MacConkey agar is selective for Gram-negative and enterobacteria.

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Q: Is nutrient agar selective
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Related questions

What is the Function of lactose in Mac Convey agar?

Lactose is used as a selective nutrient in the agar as not all microbes can process lactose


Is Sodium lactate agar selective?

Sodium lactate agar is not inherently selective. It can be used as a general growth medium for a wide range of microorganisms due to its nutrient content. However, it can be modified by adding selective agents to make it selective for specific organisms.


What is the difference between nutrient agar culture media and MacConkey agar culture media?

nutrient agar is used generally for culturing any organism.But Muller hinton agar is specifically used for testing antibiotic sensitivity as it does not contain any inhibitory substances for the growh of the organism


Is a tsa agar selective or differential?

its a selective media


What is nutrient agar?

simply agar medium


What is the color of nutrient agar?

Nutrient agar is typically a pale yellowish color when prepared and solidified.


List selective media for stool culture?

MacConkey agar: Selective for Gram-negative bacteria, inhibits the growth of Gram-positive bacteria. Hektoen enteric agar: Selective for Gram-negative enteric pathogens, such as Salmonella and Shigella species. Thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose (TCBS) agar: Selective for Vibrio species, especially Vibrio cholerae. Cefsulodin-irgasan-novobiocin (CIN) agar: Selective for Yersinia species.


What is the purpose of of agar in nutrient agar?

To make it semi-solid


Is Mueller Hinton agar is selective media?

No, Mueller Hinton agar is not a selective media. It is a non-selective media that is commonly used for antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacterial isolates.


Is glucose salts agar selective?

Glucose Salts Agar (GSA) is a selective agar that selects for gram-negative bacteria only. This means that no gram-positive bacteria will be able to grow on it.


Nutrient agar that contains vancomycin is selective for?

Nutrient agar containing vancomycin is selective for Gram-positive bacteria. Vancomycin inhibits the growth of Gram-positive bacteria by interfering with cell wall synthesis, making it a useful selective agent for isolating specific types of bacteria in microbiology.


Why 7.5 percent sodium chloride agar is selective media?

Because 7.5% NaCl agar inhibits gram negative organisms from growing, and is "selective" in that only gram positive organisms can grow in this type of agar.