SERRATIA DIFFERENTIAL MEDIUM (SD MEDIUM) (PART – I)

Description

Serratia are opportunistic gram-negative bacteria classified in the tribe Klebsiellae and the large family Enterobacteriaceae. Serratia marcescens strains are resistant to several antibiotics and are involved in nosocomial infections, particularly urinary tract infections and wound infections. S. marcescens does not ferment L-arabinose which easily differentiates it from other species except S. entomophila, which does not occur in human clinical specimens. Serratia Differential Medium is formulated as described by Gibson and Friedman for the differential isolation of Serratia species from clinical samples, based on its ability to ferment arabinose and decarboxylate ornithine. S. marcescens, Serratia rubidaea and Serratia liquefaciens species can be differentiated based on their ability to ferment L- arabinose and decarboxylate ornithine.