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A comparison of methods for detecting bacteriophage contamination of tissue culture sera

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Summary

Detection of bacteriophage contamination of tissue culture sera by direct plating has been compared with detection methods based on batch enrichment and on the Poisson distribution (PD plating). Batch enrichment is extremely sensitive for detecting the presence of phage contamination. PD plating combines sensitive, withy isolation of each contaminating phage in pure culture. Both batch enrichment and PD plating are more sensitive than direct plating. Neither method requires highly trained personnel or specialized equipment.

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Mayo, J.A. A comparison of methods for detecting bacteriophage contamination of tissue culture sera. In Vitro 14, 413–417 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02616102

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