Internal Bacterial Contamination of Micropropagated Hazelnut: Identification and Antibiotic Treatment

Abstract

Commercial micropropagation laboratories very often report that persistent bacterial and fungal contamination is a serious problem [1–3]. Failure of surface sterilization procedures to produce aseptic cultures is a problem especially with woody plants. Isolated meristems [4] and explants from stock plants grown under controlled conditions [5] have been used to obtain aseptic cultures for some plants. Contamination is not always seen at the culture establishment stage; some internal contaminants become evident at later subcultures and are difficult to eliminate [6]. Detection at an early stage can aid in selecting bacteria-free cultures [7]. Antibiotic or other treatments may be needed to eliminate persistent microbial contamination [8–11], but the type and level of antibiotics and the duration of treatment useful for different plant tissue cultures vary and therefore need to be determined before use [11,12].