217: Micro Minutes: Don't Let PEA Fool You

PEA agar is often treated as "the gram-positive plate," but that shortcut can lead to real bench-level mistakes.

In this MicroMinutes episode, we break down what phenylethyl alcohol agar actually does, why growth on PEA does not automatically mean an organism is gram-positive, and how selective media can change colony appearance and behavior.

You'll hear about:

• What PEA inhibits — and what it doesn't

• Why Pseudomonas aeruginosa can grow quite well on PEA

• How colony morphology and hemolysis may differ from blood agar

• Why Lancefield grouping should never be performed directly from PEA

PEA is a powerful recovery tool — but only when you understand its limitations. Short, focused, and straight from the bench, this is your Micro minutes.

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