Carry-over of host nutrients during sampling enhances undesired growth of Staphylococcus aureus in liquid Amies transport medium
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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Staphylococcus aureus Growth using Human Hemoglobin as an Iron Source
Published on: February 7, 2013
Md Zohorul Islam1, Jesper Larsen2, Robert Skov2
1Bacteria, Parasites and Fungi, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract:
Optimal transportation of bacteria is important for accurate clinical interpretation, quantitative assays, and microbiome studies. A transport medium should ideally keep the bacteria alive without supporting growth or altering the relative proportions of the constituent species. We investigated the effect of nasal mucus and mucin on the growth and survival of two Staphylococcus aureus strains in liquid Amies transport medium at room temperature and 4 °C for 14 days. The study showed that the presence of nasal mucus in microbiological samples stimulated undesired S. aureus growth at room temperature in a dose-dependent manner. These findings underscore that microbiological samples from humans and animals should be stored at 4 °C until analysis to avoid undesired S. aureus growth.
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