Cleb Agar Culture Medium

CLED Agar (Cystine Lactose Electrolyte Deficient Medium)

CLED Agar is a differential, non-selective culture medium designed for isolating, enumerating, and differentiating urinary tract microorganisms.

Key Features:

• Differential Properties:

  • Supports the growth of most urinary pathogens while distinguishing them based on lactose fermentation.

  • Lactose fermenters (e.g., E. coli, Klebsiella) produce yellow colonies due to acid production.

  • Non-lactose fermenters (e.g., Proteus, Pseudomonas) form blue/green colonies.

• Electrolyte Deficiency:

  • Prevents swarming of Proteus, which can overgrow other bacteria in conventional media.

• Composition:

  • L-Cystine: Promotes growth of cysteine-dependent dwarf coliforms.

  • Lactose: Serves as a fermentable carbohydrate source.

  • Bromothymol Blue: pH indicator for colony differentiation.

• Primary Use:

  • Ideal for urine culture (ECBU), especially for quantitative bacterial counts in diagnostic microbiology.