- Detection of mycoplasma is not as easy as detection of bacterial and yeast contamination. Mycoplasma contaminated cultures do not show any turbidity or change in media color (pH indicator containing media, phenol red) even upon heavy load of mycoplasma.
- Indication of mycoplasma contamination comes from the effect of mycoplasma on cells which includes altered proliferation, morphological changes, cell death etc.
- On suspicion, one must check the mycoplasma presence using available methods. However, a regular inspection program is the best way to keep the cell lab free of mycoplasma contamination.
- The following methods can be used to detect mycoplasma contamination in cell culture. The most common methods are:
- Nuclear staining
- PCR-based methods
- Agar and broth culture of mycoplasma from infected culture
- Remember that none of these methods are perfect and unable to detect all mycoplasma species. Therefore it is recommended to apply two different methods to ensure the absence of mycoplasma in culture.
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