Korean J Lab Med.  2010 Apr;30(2):133-137. 10.3343/kjlm.2010.30.2.133.

Development and Evaluation of the Quick Anaero-system-A New Disposable Anaerobic Culture System

• Yang NW
• Kim JM
• Choi GJ
• Jang SJ

• KMID: 1096798
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3343/kjlm.2010.30.2.133

Abstract

BACKGROUND
We developed a new disposable anaerobic culture system, namely, the Quick anaero-system, for easy culturing of obligate anaerobes.
METHODS
Our system consists of 3 components: 1) new disposable anaerobic gas pack, 2) disposable culture-envelope and sealer, and 3) reusable stainless plate rack with mesh containing 10 g of palladium catalyst pellets. To evaluate the efficiency of our system, we used 12 anaerobic bacteria. We prepared 2 sets of ten-fold serial dilutions of the 12 anaerobes, and inoculated these samples on Luria-Bertani (LB) broth and LB blood agar plate (LB-BAP) (BD Diagnostic Systems, USA). Each set was incubated in the Quick anaero-system (DAS Tech, Korea) and BBL GasPak jar with BD GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System (BD Diagnostic Systems) at 35-37degrees C for 48 hr. The minimal inoculum size showing visible growth of 12 anaerobes when incubated in both the systems was compared.
RESULTS
The minimal inoculum size showing visible growth for 2 out of the 12 anaerobes in the LB broth and 9 out of the 12 anaerobes on LB-BAP was lower for the Quick anaero-system than in the BD GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System. The mean time (+/-SD) required to achieve absolute anaerobic conditions of the Quick anaero-system was 17 min and 56 sec (+/-3 min and 25 sec).
CONCLUSIONS
The Quick anaero-system is a simple and effective method of culturing obligate anaerobes, and its performance is superior to that of the BD GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System.

Keyword

Anaerobic bacteria; Culture techniques; Culture media

MeSH Terms

Bacteria, Anaerobic/*growth &development
Bacteriological Techniques/instrumentation/methods
Culture Media/chemistry
Gases/chemistry
Palladium/chemistry
Reagent Kits, Diagnostic

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Features of the Quick anaero-system: Stacked media (A), tube (B), and fully assembled Quick anaero-system with 2 media on which colony formation can be observed through disposable culture-envelope (C). The components of the Quick anaero-system and consumables are indicated by numbers as follows: (1) reusable stainless plate rack with mesh containing palladium catalyst pellet; (2) palladium catalyst pellet; (3) a new disposable anaerobic gas pack; (4) culture media plate; (5) reusable stainless tube rack; (6) tube; (7) sealer; and (8) disposable culture-envelope.

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