If a microaerophile were inoculated into an agar deep, growth would be expected to be seen?

Question

Microaerophiles are organisms that grow with very small, defined amounts of oxygen. Too much will kill them, too little will kill them. Based upon this information, if a microaerophile were inoculated into an agar deep, growth would be expected to be seen?

a. only on the bottom
b. not at all
c. in a band - reflected the oxygen tension needed for that particular organism

Answer 1

I would expect the answer to be C. in a band.

Oxygen will diffuse slowly through the agar. So there might be too much oxygen on the top of the agar and too little on the bottom. There might be one level in the agar that has just the right oxygen concentration, and the microaerophiles would grow in a band at that level.

Answer 2

Agar Deep