Increased recovery of Legionella micdadei and Legionella bozemanii on buffered charcoal yeast extract agar supplemented with albumin.

The recovery of Legionella micdadei and L. bozemanii serogroups 1 and 2 from infected guinea pig spleens was evaluated by using two culture media: buffered charcoal yeast extract agar with 0.1% alpha-ketoglutarate (BCYE alpha) and the same medium supplemented with 1% bovine serum albumin (ABCYE alpha). At the lowest dilution of spleen tissue (10(-1)), recovery of all strains of L. micdadei and L. bozemanii was more efficient on ABCYE alpha than on BCYE alpha. L. micdadei strains had higher recovery rates on ABCYE alpha after another 10-fold dilution, but recoveries of L. bozemanii were similar on both media. Recovery rates for most test strains were comparable on BCYE alpha and ABCYE alpha at the highest dilution (10(-3)) of tissue tested. The presence of albumin in BCYE alpha increased the recovery rate of L. micdadei more than that of L. bozemanii. The use of ABCYE alpha medium in place of BCYE alpha may improve the recovery of L. micdadei and L. bozemanii from clinical specimens. Preliminary studies indicate that this medium also enhances recovery of certain Legionella spp. from environmental samples.