This is a modification of Christensen’s urea base for the detection of rapid urease production by Proteus spp.

Other enterobacteria will split the urea, but this will be delayed. This delay is achieved by the incorporation of glucose and the introduction of a buffering system into the medium. The indicator for ammonia production is phenol red.

IMAGE 1 : LAB130 after 4 hr incubation. L-R: Proteus mirabilis (pink), Salmonella Typhimurium (yellow), uninoculated tube.

IMAGE 2 : LAB130 after 24 hour incubation. L-R Proteus mirabilis (pink), Staphylococcus aureus (pink), E.coli (yellow).

Related Sector(s)

• Clinical
• Dairy
• Food

Related Organism(s)

• Proteus