What is an ELEK's Test?

  >   Rahul's Noteblog   >   Notes on Bacteriology   >   What is an ELEK's Test?

Definition of the ELEK's Test:

Infection by Corynebacterium diphtheriae is diagnosed using a throat swab. However, the swab contains a mixture of Corynebacterium diphtheriae organisms and normal flora throat organisms. An ELEK test is used to differentiate Corynebacterium diphtheriae organisms from normal flora organisms also called diphtheroids.

ELEK's Test Agar Plate

ELEK's Test Agar Plate:

• Horizontal lines: toxin-producing bacteria to be tested.
• Vertical rectangle: filter paper soaked with antitoxin antibodies.
• White lines: place where the filter paper and bacteria meet are lines of precipitation.

ELEK's Test Agar Diagram

In Corynebacterium diphtheriae, toxin production occurs following infection of a normal flora bacterium with a temperate phage that encodes the toxin - an example of lysogenic conversion. So, the lines marked 1 and 4 are bacteria that contain prophage DNA.

Additional Readings:

Basic Bacteriology

1. Bacterial Locations and Toxins
2. Growth Medias and Oxygen Requirements
3. Staphylococus
4. Streptococcus
5. Enterococcus
6. Bacillus
7. Listeria
8. Corynebacterium
9. Actinomyces
10. Nocadria
11. Mycobacterium
12. Clostridium
13. Neisseria
14. Pseudomonas
15. Legionella
16. Bordetella
17. Francisella
18. Brucella
19. Campylobacter
20. Escherichia
21. Shigella
22. Klebsiella
23. Salmonella
24. Yersinia
25. Proteus
26. Vibrio
27. Pasteurella
28. Haemophilus
29. Bacteriodes and Prevotella
30. Treponema
31. Borrelia
32. Rickettsia
33. Coxiella
34. Ehrlichia
35. Chlamydia
36. Mycoplasma
37. What is an ELEK's Test?
38. Causes of Orchitis

Related Topics

1. Bacterial vs viral infections

Medical Images

Useful Medical Images & Diagrams (link opens in a new window)

Recently Added Pages:

Hormonal Signaling Pathways Notes on Heart Muscle Mechanics
Notes on Electrical Activity of the Heart Notes on Heart Sounds and Murmurs
Notes on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV (DSM IV) Major Depressive Disorder vs Dysthymic Disorder
How to Stop Feedback Form & Guestbook Spam Pictures of old Kuwaiti Dinars
Body-Mass-Index, Waist-to-Height Ratio, Body Fat, Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator Digestion FAQ, Defecation reflex, etc.
Notes on Basic Gastrointestinal Physiology Inferential Statistics
Notes on Osteogenesis What is an ELEK's Test?
Why did I decide to become a doctor? Medical School Admissions Essay Video: Titanic Piano Theme: The Portrait
Corporate Failure: The Enron Case My Experience during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
USMLE Blood Lab Values Regulation of Heart Rate by Autonomic Nervous System
Images of Antibodies What is Steady State Concentration?
Generalized vs Specialized Transduction Differentiation and Anatomy of a Blastocyst
Notes on Cell Components Notes on Nervous Tissue
Voices from Hell: My Experience in Mussoorie, India Video of Cardiology Examination in a Clinical Setting

Please Do Not Reproduce This Page

This page is written by Rahul Gladwin. Please do not duplicate the contents of this page in whole or part, in any form, without prior written permission.