Löwenstein–Jensen medium
Slant tubes of Löwenstein-Jensen medium. From left to right: - Negative control - M. tuberculosis: Dry-appearing colonies - Mycobacterium avium complex: Wet-appearing colonies - M. gordonae: Yellowish colonies | |
| Acronym | LJ medium |
|---|---|
| Uses | Culturing |
| Related items | Petri dish Growth medium |
Löwenstein–Jensen medium, more commonly known as LJ medium, is a growth medium specially used for culture of Mycobacterium species, notably Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
When grown on LJ medium, M. tuberculosis appears as brown, granular colonies (sometimes called "buff, rough and tough"). The medium must be incubated for a significant length of time, usually four weeks, due to the slow doubling time of M. tuberculosis (15–20 hours) compared with other bacteria.
The medium is named after the Austrian pathologist Ernst Löwenstein (1878–1950) and the Danish medical doctor Kai Adolf Jensen (16.7.1894-2.5.1971).