Agar solidifies media, and will remain solid even when placed in an incubator. Few microorganisms are able to metabolize it, so it won't provide an energy source.
To make it semi-solid
By stabbing the blood agar, the hemolysis will be easier to see and identify.
Agar, or agar-agar, is not a grain, but rather an extract of seaweed. Agar translates to German as Agar-Agar Try whole- or health-food stores
general purpose medium is a media that provides enough nutrients in which most any microorganism will utilize for growth. Allows for a wide variety of microorganisms to grow. It can be used for a wide range of applications including; culture storage, enumeration (counting), isolation of pure cultures or simply general culture. e.g. Tryptocase Soy Agar (TSA) Tryptocase Soy Broth (TSB) Nutrient Agar
Ampicillin is added to NA agar medium to inhibit the growth of bacteria that do not contain the ampicillin resistance gene. This ensures that only bacteria transformed with a plasmid containing the resistance gene will be able to grow on the agar, allowing for selection of transformed bacteria.
Agar-agar
Agar itself is not poisonous. It is a plant derived substance and used in some cuisines. Agar is often used to analyse DNA. For this purpose it is commonly combined with ethidium bromide which is highly carcinogenic.
You would expect the organism to grow better on nutrient agar because it is a general-purpose medium that supports the growth of a wide range of organisms. MacConkey agar, on the other hand, contains inhibitors that selectively inhibit the growth of Gram-negative bacteria, so the organism may not grow as well on this medium.
an extract of seaweed
Approximately 2 teaspoons of agar agar powder is equivalent to 7 grams.
No, agar agar does not contain collagen. Agar agar is a gelatinous substance derived from seaweed, while collagen is a protein found in the connective tissues of animals.
Agar is derived from seaweed and is often used in Japanese desserts