A Strain of Vibrio cholerae Showing Undergrowth on TCBS Agar

• Published in: Kansenshogaku Zasshi Vol. 53; no. 12; pp. 687 - 693
• Main Authors: SAKAKIBARA, Hisao, TANABE, Iwao, EMOTO, Masami
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese; English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases 01.12.1979
• Subjects: Agar; Culture Media; Humans; TCBS agar; Time Factors; Vibrio cholerae; Vibrio cholerae - growth & development; Vibrio cholerae - isolation & purification
• ISSN: 0387-5911; 1884-569X
• DOI: 10.11150/kansenshogakuzasshi1970.53.687

A strain of V. cholerae isolated from a cholera patient found in Kobe was proved to have the following charactristics: 1) The strain grew very slowly or was distinctly undergrown on TCBS agar which can well support the growth of V. cholerae organisms generally. It took 36-48 hrs before the formation of visible colonies (1-2 mm in diameter). At earlier stages of growth (about 18 hrs after the beginning of incubation at 37°C), the colonies had greenish tone, instead of yellowish tone as generally shown by the V. cholerae organisms. This was due to the lack of ability of decomposing sucroce. However, after 24 hrs of incubation, the colonies became yellowish. The same statement was made as to the results using peptone water. In general properties, this strain resembled those successively cultivated in peptone water. 2) Since there are V. cholerae strains which can grow very slowly on TCBS agar, it is absolutely necessary to use additionally other kinds of selective media, such as alkaline agar or Endo's agar, for the purpose of primary isolation of V. cholerae from natural sources. 3) Other characteristics such colony morphology, biochemical activities, sugar decomposition capacities and agglutinability against antiserum, etc. were essentially the same as those of typical V. cholerae. However, no Kappa type phage was isolated. Based on these data, we regarded this strain as classical El Tor vibrio of the continental type.