Agar Plates

Agar Plates are generic containters for holding substances (i.e. nutrients for microorganisms). Typically, the plates will hold:

1. Growth medium, such as Lysogeny broth (LB) for bacteria; YPD Broth for yeast: nutrients required for microorganisms to grow. LB contains a mixture of peptides, vitamins, “trace elements,” and other minerals. There are different concentrations and recipes, which can serve different purposes.
2. (optional) Death medium, such as LB-Kanamycin (or LB-Kan for short): Optionally, a death medium (such as antibiotics) can be added to the growth medium. Genes for the antidote/immunity to the antibiotic can be included into a plasmid and inserted during bacterial transformation. The combined growth/death mixture is called LB- Kanamycin. In computer science terms, the LB-Kan medium effectively “whitelists” bacteria that have successfully undergone the bacterial transformation.
3. Agar: substance that provides structure and adhesion of the medium and microorganism to the petri dish. The agar itself is indigestible to many organisms, and therefore will not interfere with the experiment.
4. Microorganism: The lifeform in question that should be grown.