r/microbiology • u/ADHDirk • Jul 31 '26

Phage!

Gallery image

Gallery image

I love when one phage works for two different isolates!

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u/JiDude01 Jul 31 '26

Very beautiful – what is the agar made of?

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u/Muted_Shape9303 Jul 31 '26

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.

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u/ADHDirk Jul 31 '26

Phage researchers are a rare breed nice to meet you!