ISHS Acta Horticulturae 225: Bacterial and Bacteria-like Contaminants of Plant Tissue Cultures
MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION OF IN VITRO CULTURES OF APPLE ROOTSTOCKS M26 AND M9 |
| Authors: | M.J. Hennerty, M.E. Upton, P.A. Furlong, D.J. James, D.P. Harris, R.A. Eaton |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.1988.225.14 |
| Abstract:
Meristem and shoot tip explants of M26 rootstocks taken at various times of year were surface sterilised. Surface infections, both fungal and bacterial, were readily controlled. Infections which appeared to originate inside the explants were not controlled by most surface sterilisation procedures. These infections appeared during the first or subsequent cultures as turbid regions in the medium contiguous with the basal cut surface of the explants and quickly spread to the surface of the medium. In the absence of rescue procedures the explants died. Attempts to identify the contaminating organisms from inside the explants were made by isolating the contaminants emerging at the basal surface of the explants and by obtaining cultures from within explants. The contaminants were identified as a Bacillus sp., a Corynebacterium sp. and an Actinomycete in the M29 rootstocks and a Bacillus sp. and a Corynebacterium sp. in the M26. Inclusion of the antibiotics penicillin G, streptomycin or tetracycline at 10 μg ml-1 in the media proved effective in suppressing growth of pure cultures of the bacterial contaminants. Streptomycin at the same concentration was effective against the Actinomycete. Surface sterilisation of dormant buds with mercuric chloride and sodium hypochlorite solutions gave high rates of freedom from bacterial infections, as did the use of meristems from growing shoots. | |
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