In article <4hkdc5$bf9 at bigboote.WPI.EDU>,
crusberg at wpi.edu (Theodore C. Crusberg) wrote:
>In the past I've used API for environmental i.d.'s. (API-20E test
>strips). Are there other companies that sell similar technologies,
>especiallyi for environmental samples. I want to determine the i.d.'s
>of background organisms on m-endo plates.
>Thanks,
>Ted Crusberg
Ted,
We have used several different rapid id systems including API 20E for
identifying isolates, particularly Serratia spp, from soil. Overall I would
say there isn't much difference in accuracy between them - unless you go to
the more expensive ones with a greater number of tests.
Some of the ones we've used:
API 20E
MicroBact (Disposable Products, Australia) - very similar to API 20E, but
cheaper for us.
Enterotube(BBL) - not as many tests as API, reasonable results.
Crystal BBL (Becton Dickinson) - much easier to use than API, no mucking about
with filling wells or adding reagents, tests are a bit different, accuracy
seems to be the same/slightly better than API.
Biolog - has 100 tests, we've only dabbled briefly with this one, incredibly
time consuming to set up and to assess, and results were not much better than
using an API strip.
API 50/100 - price offputting, but results were pretty good.
Hope this is of some help.
Sandra
AgResearch,
Lincoln,
New Zealand.
