Aims: To determine the efficacy and selectivity of an acidified, antibiotic-selective, oligosaccharide-containing media for enumerating Bifidobacterium spp. from chicken caeca samples.
Methods and results: Transoligosaccharide propionate agar medium (TOS) modified by addition of mupirocin (50 microg ml-1) and glacial acetic acid (1%, v/v), did not inhibit the growth of bifidobacteria compared with the control media yet inhibited the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus gallinarum, Lactobacillus helveticus and Streptococcus gordonii.
Conclusions: Addition of mupirocin (50 microg ml-1) and glacial acetic acid (1%, v/v) to TOS (TOS-AM50), is an effective selective medium for isolation and enumeration of Bifidobacterium spp. from chicken caeca samples.
Significance and impact of the study: The development of an intestinal bifidobacteria-selective media contributes to the study of probiotics and prebiotics in poultry and potentially other species.