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Anonymous
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 Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures? 
#92333 - 02/07/00 08:29 PM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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You could try exposing the dish to some dessicant (drierite etc) this should dry it out. Not sure about re-hydrating though. If you are concerned about preserving you can pour mineral oil into the dishes and keep them in a cool, dark place. This has been proven to maintain cultures for atleast 30 years. To re-use you just pour off the oil and transfer a wedge to a new agar plate. Check The Mushroom Cultivator for more info.
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Anonymous
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92335 - 02/07/00 09:44 PM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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Mineral Oil sounds like a good idea. I've heard several posts alluding to the use of parafin to preserve mushrooms...so why not the mycelia! Thank you for your input. Still, how would one expose a culture to a dessicant without also exposing it to contaminants..hmm.
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Anonymous
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92336 - 02/08/00 02:14 AM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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Just by incubating at 80-86 without any sealing will dehydrate them completely.I had that happen to me but I thought the mycelium was dead so I threw them out. Extreme condensation from the water evaporating from the petri. If you don't move them at all youll be alright I moved one or two and the condensed water fell on the agar w/some bacteria that wreaked havoc. oh well nothing more to post.
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Anonymous
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92337 - 02/08/00 07:45 AM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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I have had some strains in cold storage in the fridge for about a year. They work great... just used some Ecuador to innoc a petri, and it's moving along briskly.Hrm, I'm wondering, are you using petri dishes in the fridge, or test tubes? Test tubes are air tight, and it's not just the temp, but also the lack of air. Petri dishes !=good for long term storage. Oh yea, is your fridge cold enough? Freezer is not a good idea for living mycelia... it's likely that it will kill it. Especially when you consider the enviroment that Ps.'s grow in. (Though it is *possible* for it to live)
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 Odin 13
Excitable Boy
Registered: 01/07/00
Posts: 62
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92338 - 02/08/00 06:21 PM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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Ok all, I posted about this a while back and got nowhere on it but this looks like the place/thread to post it. Why not work with slants? They lend themselves to storage much better. You don't see as much of a moisture problem with them either, I'll admit you do see a drop or two but the whole slant is sealed so the water is sterile too. I have an almost limitless supply of small slant bottles in a 10 ml. size with a silicone self sealing injectable septa top. Would anyone be interested in purchasing these? Hell, I'll even mix up the agar and sell them premade (not inoculated of course!) if you are too lazy to do this yourself. Name a price, if I like it we'll talk.
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Anonymous
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92339 - 02/08/00 08:42 PM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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I like these ideas. I had some cultures in baby food jars, sealed in ziplocks and then in a black bag for 6-7 months in the fridge with no probs. Outofthisworld is absolutely correct about the air exchange. Since mycelium is aerobic it requires a supply of oxygen to grow, lack of this and a low temp causes it to hybernate (for lack of better terms) much as it would in nature over a winter. I decided to post in some info from the Mushroom Cultivator on this subject, hopefully no one here is a copyright spazz.Correct storage temp is 35-40F (2-4C)
Stamets advises re-growing/fruiting a
strain every six months to avoid problems
with strain degeneration or lack of fruiting
ability. Oil Imersion Add a thin layer of mineral oil over the live mycelium after it has been established in a test tube (slant). Mineral oil is non-toxic to mycelium and greatly reduces the myceliums metabolism and inhibits evaporation from the agar base. The culture is stored at 37-41F. A study started in 1979 proved that 30 wood loving species were preserved in oil for 27 years and then fruited. To reactivate, slants are inverted (upside down) so the oil would drain off and then incubated at 77F. Within three weeks each slant showed signs of renewed growth. Other studies have concluded that definate degeneration is seen after 5 years. Whilst 2.5 years showed abilities similar to the day it was preserved. Stamets also mentions immersion into liquid nitrogen (EXPENSIVE!!!) also innoculation of horse manure/straw compost, kept at 36-38F.
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Anonymous
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92340 - 02/09/00 01:44 AM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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Odin... some people use those..., won't say who, but I've gotten a couple slants in the mail once upon a time...  Oh yea, when using test tubes, prior to letting the gell, put them sideways so they slant, when they gell that will give more surface area to work with. (Hrmm... I think the test tubes with caps are called slants. But I know what you're talking about and those are the ones I got in the mail. I use the test tubes with caps which my gf who used to work at a lab calls slants... dunno)
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Odin 13
Excitable Boy
Registered: 01/07/00
Posts: 62
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Re: Dehydration of Agar Cultures?
#92341 - 02/09/00 05:34 PM (24 years, 9 months ago) |
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A slant is basically nothing more than a plugged off test tube or one with a screw lid. The agar is introduced, the whole thing is sterilized and before the agar sets up, it is placed on an angle to provide a larger growing surface. If you saw these little 10 ml. bottles just recently concerning a rejuvination attempt, then yes I did supply the glassware. It was payment in kind for "other supplies"! Hint, hint folks I like the old form of bartering for services rendered, make me an offer I can't refuse, slant work is easy, good for back ups, testing syringes with, just about anything you do can be started as slants. They are much more economical than petris since they are smaller. You don't cry when one contaminates, you still can recover the bottle for reuse after cleaning it out. Hell it can't have more that a quarter's worth of agar in it if that much. I'm going to attempt the honey tech with some slants I had work, and I merely mixed up 100 ml of agar to give me about 15 slants or so. The slants were injected with 2 drops of spore solution and grew quite nicely, and very fast, but they were in an incubator.
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