Commonly Used Abbreviations in Microbiology

This is the list of commonly used short forms in Microbiology. Some of these abbreviations are very popular and thus obvious while others are gaining more usage lately.

Abbreviation	Full Name / Description
SBA	Sheep Blood Agar plate
MTB	Mycobacterium tuberculosis
BHI	Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) broth
BSC	Biological Safety Cabinet
CAMP	CAMP test (for Streptococcus agalactiae)
CFT	Complement Fixation Test
CA	Chocolate agar
CMI	Cell-mediated immunity
CPE	Cytopathic effect
Ct	Cycle threshold (Ct)
DFA	Direct fluorescent antibody test
ELISA	ELISA test for antigen/antibody detection
EMB	Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar
FTA-ABS	Fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test (for Treponema pallidum)
HEPA	High-efficiency particulate air filter (used in Filtration Sterilization)
IFA	Indirect fluorescent antibody test
IgA	Immunoglobulin A
IgE	Immunoglobulin E
IgG	Immunoglobulin G
IgM	Immunoglobulin M
KIA	Kligler’s iron agar
KOH	KOH preparation test
LD	Leishmania diagnosis
CT	Chlamydia trachomatis
LPS	Lipopolysaccharide
MAC	MacConkey agar
MBC	Minimum Bactericidal concentration
MIC	Minimum Inhibitory Concentration
NTM	Nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM)
OF	Oxidation-fermentation medium
ONPG	ONPG test
PCR	Polymerase chain reaction
PFGE	Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
CD	Clostridioides difficile
PPE	Personal protective equipment
RPR	Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test
TCBS	TCBS agar
TSA	Trypticase soy agar or tryptic soy agar
TSI	Triple sugar iron agar
VDRL	Venereal Disease Research Laboratory test
VP	Voges-Proskauer test