Isolation of a bacterium strain degraded agar.

One in 58 strains of bacteria isolated from the compost showed clear colonies after a few days of growth on the plates containing medium made of only agar and water.Water suspension contained only agar (2 and 8g·L -1 ) with two controls (normal saline,LB medium) was inoculated with the bacterium BR5-1 to see whether there was an increasement of the alive bacteria concentration after 48 h of the growth.The results showed that there was a significant rising of the alive bacteria concentration in the agar suspension (6.5×10 3 and 6.0×10 3 cfu ? mL -1 ) compared to that in the normal saline control (6.1×10 2 cfu·mL -1 ),and it was far lower than that in LB (Luria-Bertani) control (1.1×10 8 cfu·mL -1 ).In conclusion,the bacterium strain BR5-1 could degrade agar.