Tellurite Blood Agar Base is used for the selective isolation and cultivation of Corynebacterium species. Potassium tellurite acts as a selective agent and has inhibitory activity against most gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria except Corynebacterium species. C.diphtheriae reduces potassium tellurite to tellurium and thereby produce grey-black coloured colonies.
1. Scott T. J., 1981, Microbiological Media, A Manual of Products and Procedures, Fieskeville, TI : Scott Laboratories, Inc.2.MacFaddin J. F., 1985, Media for Isolation-Cultivation-Identification-Maintenance of Medical Bacteria, Vol. I, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore.