The CAMP test is a visual test used by microbiologists to detect the presence of group B streptococci in a sample. It involves a growth medium with a blood ingredient, a known type of bacteria, and the sample. The test is named after the scientists who discovered it in 1944 and involves drawing a line of bacteria down the center of a petri dish filled with a mixture of solid agar and cow or sheep blood. A positive CAMP test shows an arrow-shaped area of translucency at the end of the second horizontal line, indicating the presence of group B streptococci.
A Christie, Atkins, and Munch-Peterson (CAMP) test is a way for microbiologists to test for the presence of a particular type of bacteria in a sample called group B streptococci. It is a visual test involving a growth medium with a blood ingredient, a known type of bacteria, and the sample. Blood breaks down in a distinctive way, leaving areas of growth medium that appear translucent, because if group B Streptococci are present in the sample, they produce a protein called CAMP factor which interacts with the other type of bacteria involved.
This test is named after the scientists who first discovered it in 1944, and thus the test is named after their names, or more commonly, their initials. Historically, microbiologists have noted that different types of bacteria grew distinctively on different soil forms because individual bacterial species are typically specialized in using certain nutrients and living under certain conditions, although some are more susceptible than others to change. environment. In the case of the CAMP test medium, this is a petri dish filled with a mixture of solid agar containing a range of nutrients and cow or sheep blood.
An analyst draws a line of bacteria in a line down the center of the plate. This bacterium is a known strain of Staphylococcus aureus that laboratories can purchase and which contains only cells from that particular strain and no other bacteria. These bacteria can break down sheep or cow blood cells for use as food. After some time in an incubator that keeps the bacteria warm and helps them grow, this strain of S. aureus produces a translucency under the area where the analyst placed the bacteria at the start of the incubation . This visible translucency is due to a protein called beta hemolysin produced by bacteria that breaks down cells and the red coloration of the cells.
When CAMP factor, which is a protein produced by group B streptococci, comes into contact with beta hemolysin, the effect of both together creates more translucent areas than they otherwise would be. The basis of the CAMP test is that when an analyst draws a small line in a sample potentially containing group B streptococci, at right angles to the central line of S. aureus, but not touching the central line, then any CAMP factor present will be create a characteristically shaped area of translucency. A positive CAMP test shows an arrow-shaped area of translucency at the end of the second horizontal line.
This represents the area where beta hemolysin and the CAMP factor overlapped and had a greater effect on the breakdown of blood cells than each of the proteins individually. Beyond research purposes, the reason for performing the CAMP test may be to identify the presence of Group B Streptococci in a sick person, as this group of bacteria is important to humans. Variations on the CAMP test include one system checking for the presence of a certain strain of Listeria and another testing for the presence of a particular type of Clostridium.
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