bacterial culture contamination - (Feb/24/2005 )

Thank you Mike

yes, fungal growth is possible, as ampicillin is an antibiotic directed against the bacterial, not the eukaryotic cell wall and will not harm fungi. but in the short incubation periods needed for bacterial growth (overnight, e.g.) fungal growth should be minimal, if the inoculation with fugi is not to high....

the advice I can give you is too keep your ampi-plates not for too long, since then fungal groth can occur, and inoculate your autoclaved medium with fresh bacterial colonies. when in doubt, just transfer the colonies to a fresh plate, incubate overnight and use fresh colonies of that plate to inoculate you liquid culture. this costs you a day max, but if your cultures are contaminated, there are two or more days of work lost....

mike