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Key Documents

Safety Information

B3528

Sigma-Aldrich

BSK-H Medium

With sodium bicarbonate and HEPES, liquid, sterile-filtered, suitable for cell culture

Synonym(s):

BSK-H Medium Solution, Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly medium, Cell Culture Medium, Medium for Cell Culture

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About This Item

UNSPSC Code:
12352207
NACRES:
NA.75

product name

BSK-H Medium, With sodium bicarbonate, suitable for Borrelia burgdorferi (Qualified)

Quality Level

400

sterility

sterile; sterile-filtered

form

liquid

suitability

suitable for Borrelia burgdorferi (Qualified)

application(s)

food and beverages

components

NaHCO3: 2.2 g/L
glucose: 6.0 g/L (Dextro)
phenol red: 0.02124 g/L
HEPES: 6.0 g/L

shipped in

dry ice

storage temp.

−20°C

Application

BSK-H medium is a standardized complex medium designed to support the growth of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. To standardize the procedure for isolating and culturing Lyme disease spirochetes, Pollack, RJ et. al. modified the composition of the medium generally used for this purpose (BSK-II) and developed a system for its distribution. This medium contains no gelatin or agarose, and various components are used in proportions that differ from those in BSK-II. Each of the major proteinacious components was screened by substitution in samples of the complete product. The final medium was evaluated for the capacity to grow related spirochetes including Borrelia burgdorferi N40, Guilford, and JD-1 as well as strains of Borrelia hermsii (HS-1) and of Borrelia coriaceae (CO53). Standardized medium, supplemented with prescreened rabbit serum, facilitates comparison of research results between laboratories and may eventually permit definitive clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease based on demonstration of the pathogen. The standardized medium is designated BSK-H.
Formulation for the growth and expansion of the Lyme desease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi

Preparation Note

1. BSK-H Medium is supplied as a sterile-filtered liquid. After thawing, mix well by inverting the bottle prior to use. If the thawed medium will not be used within a few days it is recommended that the medium be refrozen in working aliquots to avoid repeated free-thaw cycles.
2. Prior to use, we recommend that the medium should be supplemented aseptically with prescreened, sterile-filtered serum to a final concentration of 6%. (See note below)
3. Other supplements may be added aseptically as desired. The nature of the supplement may affect storage conditions and shelf-life of the medium.

NOTE: For best results, serum used to supplement the medium should be prescreened for its ability to support the growth of Borrelia burgdorferi. Prescreened, sterilefiltered Rabbit Serum [Product No. R7136] is available from Sigma.

Recommended products

For best results, serum used to supplement the medium should be prescreened for its ability to support the growth of Borrelia burgdorferi. Prescreened, sterile filtered Rabbit Serum [Product No. R7136] is available from Sigma.

Storage Class Code

10 - Combustible liquids

WGK

WGK 3

Flash Point(F)

Not applicable

Flash Point(C)

Not applicable

Regulatory Listings

Regulatory Listings are mainly provided for chemical products. Only limited information can be provided here for non-chemical products. No entry means none of the components are listed. It is the user’s obligation to ensure the safe and legal use of the product.

JAN Code

B3528PROC:
B3528-500ML:
B3528-1L:
B3528-BULK:
B3528-PH:
B3528-VAR:
B3528B-BG:
B3528-PROC:
B3528-100ML:

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Search for Certificates of Analysis (COA) by entering the products Lot/Batch Number. Lot and Batch Numbers can be found on a product’s label following the words ‘Lot’ or ‘Batch’.

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R J Pollack et al.
Journal of clinical microbiology, 31(5), 1251-1255 (1993-05-01)
To standardize the procedure for isolating and culturing Lyme disease spirochetes, we modified the composition of the medium generally used for this purpose (BSK-II) and developed a system for its distribution. This medium contains no gelatin or agarose, and various
O Brorson et al.
Infection, 25(4), 240-246 (1997-07-01)
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of Borrelia burgdorferi under controlled conditions. The occurrence of cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi in vitro was noted, and these cysts were able to be transformed to normal, mobile spirochetes.
A G Barbour
The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 57(4), 521-525 (1984-07-01)
The successful isolation and cultivation of Lyme disease spirochetes traces its lineage to early attempts at cultivating relapsing fever borreliae. Observations on the growth of Lyme disease spirochetes under different in vitro conditions may yield important clues to both the
X Frank Yang et al.
Infection and immunity, 76(10), 4439-4444 (2008-07-30)
The availability of microbial genome information has provided a fruitful opportunity for studying regulatory networks in a variety of pathogenic bacteria. In an initial effort to elucidate regulatory networks potentially involved in differential gene expression by the Lyme disease pathogen
S Y Sung et al.
Infection and immunity, 68(3), 1319-1327 (2000-02-26)
The ospE gene family of the Lyme disease spirochetes encodes a polymorphic group of immunogenic lipoproteins. The ospE genes are one of several gene families that are flanked by a highly conserved upstream sequence called the upstream homology box, or
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