What is Growth medium?
[[File:Agar plate with colonies.jpg|right|thumb|250px|An agar plate – an example of a bacterial growth medium. It is a 'streak plate': the orange lines and dots are bacterial colonies]] A '''growth medium''' or '''culture medium''' is a solid or liquid containing [[nutrients]]. It is designed to support the growth of [[microorganism]]s or [[cells]],<ref name=Brock>{{cite book | last = Madigan M. & Martinko J. (eds) 2005 | title = Brock Biology of Microorganisms | edition = 11th | publisher = Prentice Hall | isbn = 0-13-144329-1 }}</ref> or small [[plant]]s like [[moss]].<ref>Hadeler, Birgit; Scholz, Sirkka & Reski, Ralf 1995. Gelrite and [[agar]] differently influence [[cytokinin]]-sensitivity of a moss. ''Journal of Plant Physiology'' '''146''', 369–371.</ref> There are different types of media for growing different types of cells.<ref name=Sherris>{{cite book | last = Ryan K.J. & Ray C.G. (eds) 2004 | title = Sherris Medical Microbiology | year = 2004 | url = https://archive.org/details/sherrismedicalmi0000unse_q1i3 | publisher = 4th ed, McGraw Hill | isbn = 0-8385-8529-9 }}</ref> There are a wide range of growth media used in biology. Some of the basic types are: #Undefined versus defined media: with defined media we know exactly what chemicals are in them. #Selective media: for example, a medium with an [[antibiotic]] added. The only things which grow are those [[antibiotic resistance|resistant]] to the antibiotic. #Differential media: these distinguish one microorganism type from another growing on the same plate. #Transport media: these have just enough to let organisms survive. #Enriched media: contain extra [[amino acids]] and other building blocks. Used to harvest a wide range of organisms from a particular source. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Microbiology]] [[Category:Laboratory equipment]]