Buffered charcoal yeast extract agar

Buffered charcoal yeast extract agar is a nutrient medium that is enhanced and buffered to provide optimal conditions for the growth and isolation of certain microorganisms, such as Legionella pneumophila. It was developed in the 1980s as a selective medium to isolate this bacterium, which caused the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in 1976.From: Indoor Air Quality [2019], The application of molecular tools to study the drinking water microbiome – Current understanding and future needs [2019], Indoor Air Quality [2018]

Pathogenic Microbes

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Published in Kathleen Hess-Kosa, Indoor Air Quality, 2018

Kathleen Hess-Kosa

At an experienced laboratory, the known aliquots of collected water will be plated onto nutrient medium and cultured for up to three weeks. The nutrient medium of choice is enhanced, buffered charcoal yeast extract agar. Prior to the plating, many of the samples are acid treated for 15 to 30 minutes and then neutralized. Most of the other non-Legionella microbes are destroyed, and the Legionella, having retained its viability, grows unrestricted.

The application of molecular tools to study the drinking water microbiome – Current understanding and future needs

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Published in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2019

Ya Zhang, Wen-Tso Liu

Cultivation is still the most widely-used technique to quantify microbial density in drinking water sector since late 18th century (Figure 1). HPC and bacterial indicators (i.e., total coliforms and E. coli) were introduced to determine the adequacy of water treatment and the integrity of the DS (Bartram, Cotruvo, Exner, Fricker, & Glasmacher, 2004; Frankland, 1894; Koch & Duncan, 1894; Payment, Sartory, & Reasoner, 2003). As isolating and enumerating disease-causing microorganisms are primary concerns in drinking water studies, selective and differential media techniques have been developed to cultivate almost all known pathogens. For example, the buffered charcoal yeast extract agar is a selective medium developed to isolate the once difficult-to-culture Legionella pneumophila in 1980s that caused the outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in 1976 (Edelstein, 1981; Pasculle et al., 1980).

Buffered charcoal yeast extract agar

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Pathogenic Microbes

The application of molecular tools to study the drinking water microbiome – Current understanding and future needs