A note on a selective agar medium for the enumeration of Flavobacterium species in water

A selective nutrient agar medium containing kanamycin at 50 micrograms/ml was developed for the isolation and enumeration of yellow-pigmented colonies from the River Sowe, Coventry. Such organisms were shown to be members of the heterogeneous genus Flavobacterium. Typically, yellow pigmented colonies constituted less than 10% of the colonies on nutrient agar alone but up to 70% on nutrient agar plus kanamycin. This medium is a useful addition to the range of media available for the isolation and further ecological study of particular species of this important group of micro-organisms.