Cultivation of Staphylococci

Unique Granulated Culture Media

To cultivate Staphylococcus, Merck provides a range of selective dehydrated culture media that are ideally suited for microbial testing in pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturing facilities.

Staphylococcus is a genus of round, grape-like cluster forming, gram-positive bacteria. They are facultative anaerobes that grow in the presence of bile salts. Most species are harmless, normally residing on the skin and mucous membranes of humans and animals. Found worldwide, staphylococci are a small component of the microbial flora of the soil. One of the most important criteria for classifying staphylococci is the ability to produce coagulase, an enzyme that causes the formation of blood clots. Several species are recognized as being coagulase-positive, including S. aureus, S. delphini, S. hyocus, S. intermedius, S. lutrae, S. pseudintermedius and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans.

Staphylococci can cause a wide variety of diseases in humans and animals through either toxin production or tissue penetration. Probably the most notorious are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains, which cause difficult-to-treat infection in humans. MRSA is referred to any strain of S. aureus that has developed resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics, which include the penicillins (methicillin, dicloxacillin, nafcillin, oxacillin, etc.) and the cephalosporins. MRSA strains are believed to have emerged through the process of natural selection as a consequence of over-usage of antibiotics.

Pharmaceuticals and cosmetics manufacturers routinely ensure that their production environments, raw materials and finished products do not contain harmful levels of microbes such as Staphylococcus.

Selective Media for Staphylococcus Testing

Merck provides high quality media for the enrichment, isolation and enumeration of staphylococci in pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturing facilities. These highly consistent media are available in a variety of formulations as dehydrated culture media, produced in the form of granules.

Merck’s uniquely granulated culture media meet the highest industry performance standards as described in ISO 11133. They are both convenient and safe: Granules cause significantly less dust formation than powdered media, leading to less inhalation of hazardous media components that may cause an allergic reaction. In addition, using granules minimizes the contamination of the work environment.

All Merck media are quality controlled to comply with stringent standards. This guarantees the excellent consistency and quality of our culture media.