Cetrimide agar

Cetrimide agar is a type of agar used for the selective isolation of the gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

[1] As the name suggests, it contains cetrimide, which is the selective agent against alternate microbial flora.

[2] Cetrimide also enhances the production of Pseudomonas pigments such as pyocyanin and pyoverdine, which show a characteristic blue-green and yellow-green colour, respectively.

[3][4] Cetrimide agar is widely used in the examination of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and clinical specimens to test for the presence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

[1] This microbiology-related article is a stub.

Photograph of a petri dish showing P. aeruginosa with yellow-green Pycocyanin-pigment on cetrimid agar-agar
P. aeruginosa with yellow-green pycocyanin-pigment on cetrimid agar-agar