Methods for Sterilizing Instruments Contaminated with Bacillus sp. from Plant Tissue Cultures

Abstract

Bacterial contamination can be a serious problem in plant tissue cultures (4, 6). Contaminants occur because bacteria may survive the explant surface-sterilization procedure (5) or are endogenous in the plant tissue (4). In certain instances, the bacteria may remain latent in the explant(s) and fail to exhibit visual symptoms for prolonged periods (5). Furthermore, Monette (7) recently reported on the inability to detect an Aerococcus sp. and Bacillus fastidiosus contamination in kiwifruit shoot-tip cultures initiated on agar-solidified medium. It is, therefore, imperative that bacterial contaminants are not spread through improperly sterilized instruments.