Compounds in a particular production lot of tryptic soy broth inhibit Staphylococcus aureus cell growth

Staphylococcus aureus Newman strain and several methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) clinical isolates were grown on agar plates prepared with conventional lots of tryptic soy broth (TSB). Cell growth of these strains was inhibited on agar plates containing TSB of a particular product lot (lot A), whereas the cell growth of S. aureus RN4220 strain and several other MRSA clinical isolates was not inhibited. The cell growth of a strain of S. epidermidis was also inhibited on agar plates containing TSB of lot A, whereas the cell growth of Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus lactis, Klebsiella pneumonia, Salmonella enterica, Serratia marcescens, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli was not inhibited. Although cell growth of the Newman strain was inhibited on agar plates containing TSB of lot A that was autoclaved in stainless steel or glass containers, cell growth inhibition was not observed when the medium was autoclaved in polypropylene containers. Compounds that inhibited the cell growth of the Newman strain were extracted from a polypropylene tube that was preincubated with liquid medium prepared from TSB of lot A. These findings suggest that polypropylene-binding compounds in TSB of lot A inhibited the cell growth of S. aureus Newman strain, some MRSA clinical isolates, and S. epidermidis.