Thermo Scientific™ KBE (Kanamycin Bile Esculin) Agar

Description

• Selectively isolate and presumptively identify Bacteroides fragilis group using Thermo Scientific™ Remel™ KBE Agar (Kanamycin Bile Esculin Agar)
• Chan and Porschen formulated KBE Agar to selectively isolate and presumptively identify the B
• fragilis group based on resistance to bile and kanamycin and hydrolysis of esculin 1,2
• Clinical specimens for anaerobic culture frequently contain mixed flora, including facultative gram-negative rods that readily overgrow the anaerobes, so selective media are recommended for isolation of anaerobes 3
• Members of the Bacteroides fragilis group are the anaerobic bacteria most frequently isolated in human clinical infections 4
• This group includes B
• fragilis , B
• thetaiotaomicron , B
• ovatus , B
• distasonis , B
• vulgatus , and others
• These members of the B
• fragilis group hydrolyze esculin to produce esculetin
• Selectively isolate and presumptively identify members of the B
• fragilis group using KBE Agar
• Ready to use – Convenience of prepared media Easy to interpret - Brown-black complex in the agar surrounding the colony Selective media - Addition of kanamycin and bile makes this medium selective Kanamycin (1000μg/ml) inhibits facultative anaerobes and anaerobic gram-negative bacteria other than B
• fragilis group Bile (20%) stimulates B
• fragilis but inhibits other anaerobic bacteria Ferric ammonium citrate present in the medium reacts with esculetin to produce a brown-black complex in the agar surrounding the colony
• Addition of kanamycin and bile to this medium makes it selective
• Vitamin K and hemin are growth factors
• Hemin also allows testing for catalase production 5 .