Caprylate-thallous agar medium for selectively isolating Serratia and its utility in the clinical laboratory

Abstract

A defined agar medium (caprylate-thallous [CT] agar) containing 0.01% yeast extract, 0.1% caprylic (n-octanoic) acid, and 0.025% thallous sulfate is highly selective for all Serratia species and effectively discriminates against most non-Serratia strains likely to be in the same habitats. The selectivity of CT agar is demonstrated by the very high efficiency of colony formation (mean, 80.7% of that on a nonselective complex medium) on CT agar by known Serratia strains and the very low efficiency of colony formation (close to 0) on CT agar by bacterial strains known not to be Serratia. The utility of this medium in actual clinical laboratory practice is demonstrated by the more rapid and higher recovery of Serratia on this selective medium as compared to conventional procedures of in-tandem runs of 513 [human] consecutive urine, feces and sputum specimens. Pigmented and nonpigmented Serratia strains deliberately added to fecal specimens can be selectively and quantitatively recovered on CT agar. CT agar compares favorably with, or in some cases is an improvement over, other selective media which are recommended for isolating Serratia. This selective CT agar medium could be quite useful in ecological surveys, especially those related to hospital-acquired infections.