Re: Forward from Plant Tissue Culture

Thanks Dan. I have had several hostas sent to me for TC that contained
(contaminated with) a bacterium of some sort. Only way to control the
bug is with a compound called PPM incorporated in the culture media. I
don't use PPM routinely, but tried some specifically to see if the
contaminant could be controlled. Some can be, some can't. In some cases
the bug doesn't interfere with TC, in other cases it is quite harmful,
probably because the enhanced environment of TC media allows it to
overgrow the hosta culture. The most notable contaminant I had of this
sort was in a culture of 'Ann Arett' which I was doing for myself
because I like the sight of a large bed of these plants, particularly
when they are in bloom. This culture, which I kept going for 6 years
(it's now out of culture), was contaminated with a bright red bacterium.
Actually the cultures were kind of pretty. The media would get very red,
and this was in contrast to the chartreuse yellow of the plants. The
contaminat never had the slightest effect on the hosta culture, and it
never showed up in any other culture (good aseptic technique etc.) The
plants behave quite typically out in the garden with no ill effects. As
long as the bug infesting the plant isn't a plant pathogen I suppose it
will do no harm.  Too much rambling on this subject!  JML
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