VIEW ARTICLE

Techniques

New Media for Rapid Growth of Spiroplasma citri and Corn Stunt Spiroplasma. I. -M. Lee, Department of Plant Pathology, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903; R. E. Davis, Plant Virology Laboratory, Plant Protection Institute, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705. Phytopathology 74:84-89. Accepted for publication 15 July 1983. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1984. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-74-84.

Several media (LD series) for cultivation of Spiroplasma citri and corn stunt (CS) spiroplasma were developed by study of growth-promoting factors and eventual reformulation of a complex medium (L) originally developed for cultivation of S. citri. The maximum titer of S. citri grown in one of the new media, LD8, reached over 6 × 10⁹ colony-forming units (CFU) per milliliter, with an estimated doubling time of about 4 hr at 31 C. In another medium, LD8A, CS spiroplasma (strain I-747) grew to a titer of about 2 × 10⁹ CFU/ml, with a doubling time of 11- 12 hr at 31 C. Media LD8 and LD8A were highly suitable for primary isolation of S. citri and CS spiroplasma, respectively, from diseased plants.