Buffered charcoal yeast extract (BCYE) agar is a selective growth medium used to

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

or grow certain types of

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

, particularly the

Gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. They are characterized by their cell envelopes, which are composed of a thin peptidoglycan cell wa ...

species '' Legionella pneumophila''. It has also been used for the laboratory diagnosis of ''Acanthamoeba'' keratitis, ''

Francisella ''Francisella'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria. They are small coccobacillary or rod-shaped, nonmotile organisms, which are also facultative intracellular parasites of macrophages. Strict aerobes, ''Francisella'' colonies bear a morpholog ...

'' and '' Nocardia''. This culture is to be differentiated from regular ''

yeast extract agar Yeast extract agar is a growth medium containing yeast extract. It may refer to: * The nonselective yeast extract agar of Windle Taylor * YM (selective medium), for yeasts and molds * Buffered charcoal yeast extract agar Buffered charcoal yeast e ...

'', which is not selective.

References

Cell culture media {{Microbiology-stub