Evaluation of a microtiter system for identification of anaerobic bacteria

Abstract

The Anaerobe Combo Panel was evaluated for its ability to identify anaerobic bacteria. The frozen, 96-well panel utilizes 24 biochemical reactions and 4 antimicrobial agents for species identification. The Anaerobe Combo Panel was used to test 114 clinical isolates of strict anaerobes. Reactions were read after 48 h; the results were compared with those obtained with the PRAS II system. Discrepancies between the 2 systems were resolved by GLC. With the Anaerobe Combo Panel, 84% of the organisms grew; 89% of these were correctly identified to genus level and 78% to species level. The Anaerobe Combo Panel was easy to inoculate and read; some of the reactions were difficult to interpret; not all of the derived codes were found in the code book.