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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Purple contams! Please Help!
#23371274 - 06/22/16 08:31 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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Hello!
Recently, all of my bags and jars were lost to contamination. I cleaned out my lab and put an air filter in the room, as well as disposing of all contaminated jars and bags away from the lab. A couple months later, I finally have my cultures alive and well again, when I noticed the same purple contam on a PF cake!
I am trying to keep another outbreak from happening! If anyone knows what this is or how to deal with it, any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23373831 - 06/23/16 01:28 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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No ideas?
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Snazz
Polymath



Registered: 11/24/15
Posts: 1,584
Loc: Canada
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23374509 - 06/23/16 05:29 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Snazz]
#23374535 - 06/23/16 05:37 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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From my limited research it does not look like Fusarium. (Comparing to google/shroomery pics)
It only took hold of 1 fully colonized PF cake so far, which I quickly disposed of. My guess is it began when I started experimenting with liquid cultures and a few became contaminated, after a few bad batches I ditched everything and started fresh.
Everything was fine until after the 1st flush, then the single cake (of about 6 or 7) began showing that purple patch.
Thanks!
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Snazz
Polymath



Registered: 11/24/15
Posts: 1,584
Loc: Canada
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23374573 - 06/23/16 05:47 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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Spores are purple, but it didn't really seem like the case here.
Hopefully things clean up for you
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Snazz]
#23374589 - 06/23/16 05:50 PM (7 years, 7 months ago) |
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It's definitely not spores. Really confusing, I can't seem to find anything that looks similar to it....I'm hoping it's not harmful
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23659729 - 09/19/16 06:52 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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BUMP!
Since this post I have had nothing but trouble with this fuzzy purple mold. It is destroying everything I work on!!! Can anyone please help identify this???
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Bobabouy
Shrimp Boat Captain



Registered: 01/19/16
Posts: 661
Loc: The Black Sea
Last seen: 6 years, 16 days
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23659795 - 09/19/16 07:18 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Maybe it's time to get a new spore print/syringe.
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Bobabouy]
#23659805 - 09/19/16 07:21 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I use LC and Agar for inoculations and they are tried and true, I have performed several tests and the culture is very healthy. It is an airborne contaminant of some kind.
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Bobabouy
Shrimp Boat Captain



Registered: 01/19/16
Posts: 661
Loc: The Black Sea
Last seen: 6 years, 16 days
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23659828 - 09/19/16 07:29 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm sorry but I don't agree. If mold is getting a foothold time and time again, your spawn has been severely weakened by bacteria.
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Bobabouy]
#23659842 - 09/19/16 07:34 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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How is this possible when it comes from a very healthy agar dish? All my experiments get to 100% colonization and then at least a flush or two before succumbing to contamination. I have performed numerous transfers and each additional dish is as healthy as the last?
Thanks for the help!
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Bobabouy
Shrimp Boat Captain



Registered: 01/19/16
Posts: 661
Loc: The Black Sea
Last seen: 6 years, 16 days
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23659887 - 09/19/16 07:51 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Sometimes mycelium grows right over bacteria on a plate and you never even know it's there. Until you get molds that is.
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Bobabouy]
#23659893 - 09/19/16 07:52 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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I don't believe this is the case. Thanks anyways.
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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tump
ban the undead



Registered: 03/17/16
Posts: 2,383
Last seen: 6 years, 10 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23663621 - 09/20/16 11:13 PM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Typle of slime mold. Im sorry but this time your screwed. Bleach everything. Cook everything longer then normal. And tranfer in glovebox not still air box. But a glove box far away form where your doing this.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: tump]
#23663813 - 09/21/16 12:15 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Gloveboxes suck. Proper SABs are much better
Regardless that shit or some other type of contam like bacteria got in at some point during colonization. This is either an inoculant, technique, or filter/lid problem.
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tump
ban the undead



Registered: 03/17/16
Posts: 2,383
Last seen: 6 years, 10 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Mad Season]
#23664163 - 09/21/16 05:44 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Proper still air boxs only work well if the house your working in truly supports still air. Some homes like mine have only one closet like that. You turn the air off and follow the still air methods to a tea. Still fails because dafts form outside move in and out all over the house. I believe thar contam is in the Mycetozoa class which means its likely to come form the house it self.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: tump]
#23664305 - 09/21/16 07:46 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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And it germinated due to a weakened network (bacteria present, for example). If the network was healthy, nothing will germinate. That's why some stuff has a contamination while substrates beside it are healthy.
A glove box is only good of the box itself is sealed completely and completely sterilized inside (very unlikely). Huge cumbersome gloves move SO much air, compared to the small surface area of your arms. Also you need to flame your tool somehow. How do you in a glove box without moving the air hardcore?
You are correct about every room having a draft even with the air off. But it should be minimal enough for your box to have almost no moving air. Keep in mind your flame is going constantly right beside your box, so the air is definitely moving just outside the box. However my studies with incense and watching the smoke has shown that the air in the box has no movement. The main shit that moves air is your arms, so if you're having problems with a SAB, you need to increase arm hole size to reduce piston effect, make sure nothing goes over open media except a sterile tool, and have your arms bare to reduce the air movement from them.. I'm sure there's more things I do to ensure success but yeah.. Using proper technique I can confidently make clean plates in a SAB. Much more of a success rate than my fuckin GB back in the day. But you need to do everything proper.
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Madcap
Dr.



Registered: 05/01/14
Posts: 52
Last seen: 6 years, 7 months
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Mad Season]
#23664490 - 09/21/16 09:29 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thank you all for your information.
I have been using a glovebox for all of my transfers, which I sanitize thoroughly with lysol and wait for the air to settle. I do flame sterilize my tools before use.
In the past 2 years I have been using this method without fail, and I can get to the stage of fruiting cakes or tubs from agar after g2g xfers. Colonization is very quick and normal as far as I can see.
I did have a few contam problems a while back but they were contained in jars with SFDs. Is it possible for the contamination to escape through SDF lids? Do SFD lids expire after a certain amount of cooks? Any additional information on SFDs would be great. They have been doing me very well for the past few years. I suppose it is possible that one of my wood substrate filter patch bags that went bad somehow released spores through the filter patch? I never opened anything, I always just throw everything away.
Mad Season - I appreciate your thorough answers! I think I am going to completely start from scratch after cleaning the hell out of my workspace (bleach/lysol) and I have invested in a very high quality air filtration system. Next I will consider making a flow hood.
I will not give up yet!
-------------------- This is the strangest life I've ever known.
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Mad Season
hookers and blackjack



Registered: 09/16/12
Posts: 12,666
Loc: Canada
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Re: Purple contams! Please Help! [Re: Madcap]
#23664549 - 09/21/16 10:01 AM (7 years, 4 months ago) |
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Always have uninoculated control jars to test the filters. Filters can indeed fail. Also hit up this link for your agar. Quite often a contamination can be there without your knowledge, unless you know exactly what to lookout for.
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