Culture Characteristics:
- B. pseudomallei grows on sheep blood agar (SBA), chocolate (CHOC) agar, and MacConkey (MAC) agar
- B. mallei grows on very slowly on SBA and CHOC, but little or no growth on MAC
Colony Morphology on SBA at 35oC:
- B. mallei: Smooth, gray, translucent colonies at 48 hours as displayed in the top, right image
- B. pseudomallei: Smooth, creamy, white colonies at 24 hours as displayed in the lower image on the right
- B. pseudomallei: May become dry and wrinkled as shown in the image below, often with a purplish hue at 48-72 hours
Colony Morphology on MAC at 35oC:
- B. pseudomallei: Pink colonies at 24-48 hours (may be colorless at 48 hours)
- B.mallei: No growth or light pink colonies at 72 hours
B. pseudomallei on CHOC at 72h image courtesy of CDC