Jul 12, 2023

Public workspaceAlgae Agar Preparation

DOI
dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.j8nlkewj6l5r/v1
  • 1University of Michigan - Ann Arbor;
  • 2University of Michigan
Dylan J Baker
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DOI: dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.j8nlkewj6l5r/v1
Protocol Citation: Dylan J Baker, Melissa B Duhaime, A.j Wing 2023. Algae Agar Preparation. protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.j8nlkewj6l5r/v1
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License,  which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: December 14, 2019
Last Modified: July 12, 2023
Protocol Integer ID: 30997
Abstract
This protocol details the making of algae concentrate agar for the growth of bacteria from Douglas Lake.

Protocol for class project in Microbes in the Wild: Advanced Environmental Microbiology Lab (EEB 447) course at University of Michigan Biological Station and on campus.
  1. During the peak of a cyanobacterial bloom, bring a 100μm mesh out into the water.
  2. Collect as many colonies as possible using the mesh and collect them into three sterile 50 ml falcon tubes.


  1. Sterilize a conventional blender with 10% bleach. Rinse with 1-2L MilliQ water
  2. Pour the contents of the three 50 ml falcon tubes into the blender. Blend on high for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the contents of the blender into a sterile 1L round glass media bottle.
  4. Add 15 grams of agar to the media bottle.
  5. Bring up the mixture to 1L with MilliQ water
  6. Steam autoclave at 121˚C for 30 minutes on Liquid Cycle 2
  7. Pour agar into sterile petri dishes and allow to set. Store plates at 4˚C.