In: Biology
What is the purpose of using blood agar? What are hemolysins? What are the three patterns of hemolysis on blood agar? Compare and contrast alpha, beta, and gamma hemolysis. What are the hemolytic patterns for a normal throat culture? What are the hemolytic patterns for Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes?
Blood agar is a general purpose enriched medium. It is used to grow fastidious bacteria. It is used to differentiate between various hemolysins.
Hemolysins are lipids and proteins which cause lysis of RBC by destroying their cell membranes.
The three hemolysin patterns are alpha, beta and gamma.
Alpha hemolysis produce greenish discoloration after the hemolysis of the blood agar.This is due to the partial decomposition of the hemoglobin of the red blood cells.
Beta hemolysis is due to complete breakdown of the red blood cells.There is a clearing of the agar around a colony.
A normal culture will have non-hemolytic or some alpha hemolytic organisms.
Streptococcus pneumoniae - shows alpha hemolysis.
Streptococcus pyogenes- shows beta hemolysis.
Gamma hemolysis is due to lack of hemolysis around the bacterial colony. It appears brownish in color.