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Bacterial Culture Media

Our complete catalog of bacterial culture media is formulated to support reliable microbial growth across research, quality control, and bioprocessing workflows. We provide off-the-shelf and custom liquid media, including a broad selection of nutrient-rich, defined, and antibiotic-containing formulations suitable for a wide variety of bacterial species and applications.
Bacterial Culture Media
What is bacterial culture media?

Bacterial culture media provide the essential nutrients required for microbial growth, including carbon sources, nitrogen, vitamins, and salts. These media are used across microbiology workflows to cultivate, maintain, and study bacterial populations under controlled conditions.

 

 

 

Types of bacterial culture media

 

 

There are several types of liquid bacterial culture media, each designed for specific experimental needs. Selecting the appropriate media type is critical for achieving optimal growth conditions and accurate experimental or manufacturing outcomes.

Rich media

Nutrient-dense formulations (e.g., LB, Terrific broth) that support rapid growth and high cell density.

Defined (minimal) media

Precisely controlled compositions (e.g., M9 media) used for metabolic and physiological studies.

General-purpose media

Broadly supportive media (e.g., Tryptic Soy Broth) used for routine cultivation.

Selective media

Unwanted microbial contaminants can be eliminated by including antibiotics in liquid bacterial culture media.

Applications of bacterial culture media

Bacterial culture media are used across a wide range of laboratory and industrial workflows to support microbial growth, analysis, and production. These applications rely on consistent, well-characterized media to ensure reproducible growth and reliable downstream results. Common applications include:

Routine cultivation and maintenance

LB Broth, Nutrient Broth, and Tryptic Soy Broth provide nutrient-rich liquid media for everyday cultivation of non-fastidious bacteria, with low-salt and salt-free LB variants available for ionic-sensitive applications.

Cloning and plasmid propagation

LB, 2xYT, and Super Broth support routine cloning and recombinant DNA work, Terrific Broth drives high-density E. coli growth for maximum plasmid yield, and SOB/SOC media optimize transformation recovery.

QC and sterility testing

Tryptic Soy Broth (including animal-free soytone formulations) and Fluid Thioglycollate Medium support routine sterility and bioburden testing in pharmaceutical and food QC labs, with bulk and pre-dispensed tube formats for regulated manufacturing.

Environmental monitoring

Tryptic Soy Broth with Tween-80 neutralizes disinfectant residue during surface and equipment monitoring, while general-purpose broths like TSB and Brain Heart Infusion enrich samples ahead of pathogen detection.

Bioprocessing and fermentation

Terrific Broth and Super Broth fuel high-density E. coli fermentations for enzyme, protein, and metabolite production, M9 minimal media enables defined-carbon protein expression, and animal-free TSB is available in 20 L and 200 L bag formats for scale-up.

Why choose Teknova’s bacterial culture media?

Our extensive catalog of rich, defined, and selective bacterial culture media is supplied as ready-to-use formulations, eliminating in-house preparation and reducing variability across workflows. Each RUO- and GMP-grade product is manufactured to precise specifications to ensure consistent nutrient composition and reliable microbial growth.


Our products include a wide range of media types, including LB broth, M9 minimal media, Mueller-Hinton broth, and more, and formats designed to integrate seamlessly into routine laboratory operations, from small-scale research to large-scale process development. All products are manufactured under rigorous quality control standards to ensure sterility, performance, and lot-to-lot consistency. We also support custom bacterial culture media, including modified formulations, antibiotic combinations, peptone alternatives, and container formats to meet specialized research or manufacturing requirements.

If you don't find what you are looking for in our catalog, please contact us to discuss your specific requirements.

Explore related products

All our products are fully customizable, from formulation to format to fill volume. Our experts can help find the ideal solution for your application and efficiently manufacture your custom product.

Frequently asked questions

You can find answers here for our most commonly asked questions. If you don't find the information you are looking for, get in touch with our team. We're here to help.

Bacterial culture media are used to grow and maintain bacterial populations for research, diagnostic testing, cloning, and bioprocessing applications.

Common types include rich media, defined media, and selective media, each designed for specific growth conditions or experimental goals.

Broth is a liquid medium used to grow bacteria in suspension, while agar is a solid medium used to isolate colonies and observe growth characteristics.

Yes. We offer ready-to-use bacterial culture media in both liquid and solid formats.

Yes. We support custom formulations, antibiotic supplementation, and specialized formats. Learn more about our custom process.

Find out what’s possible

 

Talk to our consultants today to discover custom solutions that can help you achieve your goals.

 

Get in touch:

1.800.209.4488

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