Influence of the biocides PPMtm and Vitrofural on bacteria isolated from contaminated plant tissue cultures and on plant microshoots grown on various media

SummaryBacterial contamination is often a serious problem during plant micropropagation. When disinfection of the initial explants fails, and bacteria are not detected at the initial stage of propagation, they can survive unobserved as a contamination in the plant explants and only appear when the population of microshoots is large. Biocides added to the culture media can be used to help reduce bacterial multiplication. This research was aimed at determining whether the use of PPM™ and Vitrofural could restrict the growth of various bacteria (Methylobacterium lusitanum, Paenibacillus spp., Pseudomonas putida, Serratia marcescens, and Staphylococcus pasteuri) isolated from plant cultures, and whether these biocides were detrimental to shoot multiplication and rooting in anthurium, blackberry, chrysanthemum, hosta, raspberry, and strawberry microshoots. PPM™ and Vitrofural restricted the growth of bacteria in agar-diffusion assays for periods of 1 d to 21 d, depending on the bacterial genotype, the type and...