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All posts created by bcutsor

| posted 03 Oct, 2023 17:49
Hi Adam,
Thanks for forwarding me the information from Kyle. It's very helpful. We have a very old, steam autoclave so it could very well be contaminated with a thermophile which is what's giving us grief.
For the time being I will prepare the TA the morning of the lab, alliquot into 15 mL sterile conical tubes and treat them as "one time use" instead of making the TA ahead of time and keeping in the 55 water bath for several hours or days as we have been doing.
Hopefully this will work out.
Thanks again,
Bernadine
Posted in: Phage Discovery/IsolationContamination of top agar and possibly other components
| posted 03 Oct, 2023 13:51
Hi Kyle and Adam,

We have been having issues with top agar contamination also. I've even tried adding CHX to the top agar and ended up with contamination in my last batch. What's frustrating is that I'm using the same agar for PYCA plates + CHX with no issues. I am using the Fischer Brand agar BP1423. What brand are you using?
I am going to make another batch and put the media in 15 mL sterile tubes that were purchased sterile. I'm not sure if it's the agar, the tubes that we autoclave inhouse, the black screw caps or a water batch issue. We are also trying to solve the issue.

Any advice or info would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bernadine
Posted in: Phage Discovery/IsolationContamination of top agar and possibly other components