A modified plate holding system for anaerobic cultures.

A modified plate holding system for anaerobes has been developed which: 1) effectively reduces the volume of oxygen-free gas required, 2) promotes earlier bacterial growth, and 3) monitors the anaerobic atmosphere of the holding vessel and the rate of gas flow. Cultures of Bacteroides fragilis, Clostridium perfringens, C. septicum, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Peptococcus sp. and Propionibacterium sp. were evaluated for optimal growth. All cultures grew as well as or better when preincubated in the holding system for one to three hours then incubated in a GasPak system for the remainder of the 24 hours, as compared to incubation only in the GasPak or holding system for the entire 24-hour period.