A high throughput method and culture medium for rapid screening of phosphate accumulating microorganisms

A novel PA Medium (PAM) for efficient screening of phosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) was developed taking Serratia marcescens NBRI1213 as model organism. The defined National Botanical Research Institute’s growth medium (NBRI) supplemented with 0.1% maltose, designed for quantitative estimation of phosphate accumulation was designated as PAM. Our work suggested usage of PAM for efficient qualitative screening and as a microbiological medium for preferential selection of PAOs on Petri-plates. For qualitative screening of PAOs, Toluidine blue-O dye (TBO) was supplemented in PAM, designated as PAM-TBO. Qualitative analysis of phosphate accumulated by various groups correlated well with grouping based upon quantitative analysis of PAOs, effect of carbon, nitrogen, salts, and phosphate accumulation-defective transposon mutants. For significantly increasing sample throughput, efficiency of screening PAOs was further enhanced by adaptation of PAM-TBO assay to microtiter plate based method. It is envisaged that usage of this medium will be salutary for quick screening of PAOs from environment.