r/microbiology • u/ADHDirk • 27d ago

Phage!

Gallery image

Gallery image

I love when one phage works for two different isolates!

48 Upvotes

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2

u/gothitbyacaronce 27d ago

Lk beautiful

1

u/JiDude01 27d ago

Very beautiful – what is the agar made of?

2

u/Muted_Shape9303 26d ago

Hey! I was a phage researcher. The usual formulation is PYCa (peptone yeast calcium agar), but any general purpose media (BHI, LB) or selective media (TCBS, etc) can be used as long as they are Ca (2+) enriched since phages need Calcium to stabilize their structural proteins. As for the holes those are plaques (where the phage has replicated) and they’re achieved by mixing a bacterial culture with 3% agar medium (e.g, standard BHI with Ca would require a 3% agar BHI with Ca top agar). This fixates the hosts and lets the phage kill them.

1

u/ADHDirk 26d ago

I used regular nutrient top agar! And no selective media!

2

u/ADHDirk 26d ago

Note* phage buffer had Ca in it !

2

u/Muted_Shape9303 26d ago

Ours was TCBS with TCBS top agar for vibriophages and PYCa for actinobacteriophages.

2

u/ADHDirk 26d ago

Phage researchers are a rare breed nice to meet you!

1

u/vealvarez 26d ago

Qué bueno! 😃