So today I kind of felt a 'my life is a lie' kind of situation as I was reading a few articles on phage enrichment. When I was going through these articles I was looking at various compositions for the medium in which the phage had to be enriched.
And I came across the famous 'LB medium', I was taught(and used to believe) that 'LB' stood for "Luria-Bertani" but it is not so.
What does LB stand for according to the internet then? It stands for 'Lysogeny Broth'. As you all know that sources on the internet maybe deceptive so then I read the original paper which was published in 1952 by Bertani G, from which I confirmed that the sources on the internet are right and LB does stand for 'Lysogeny Broth'
In the paper, Bertani mentions that:
"the formula of the LB medium which I had concocted in order to optimize Shigella growth and plaque formation. Its use has since become very popular. The acronym has been variously interpreted, perhaps flatteringly, but incorrectly, as Luria broth, Lennox broth, or Luria-Bertani medium. For the historical record, the abbreviation LB was intended to stand for 'lysogeny broth.' "
So now I am going to spread the news to all of my friends that LB stands for Lysogengy broth. It is quite stupid but also alluring how I(and many others) have studied the wrong thing and didn't even arrive at the right thing for so long.
References:
Bertani, G. 1952. "Studies on Lysogenesis. I. The mode of phage liberation by lysogenic Escherichia coli." J. Bacteriology, 62:293-300
