Tissue culture concepts
Contamination tracking basics
Contamination is a common cause of culture loss in plant tissue culture. Recording contamination observations helps reveal recurring patterns, supports review of laboratory practices, and keeps contamination history connected to each culture.
Why track it at all
Review recurring patterns
One contamination observation may be isolated. Multiple records associated with the same room, SOP, media recipe, or workflow may indicate a pattern worth investigating.
Understand contamination trends
Logged contamination records help you review how often similar observations appear and how they change over time.
Keep follow-up context connected
Use contamination status, notes, and related culture context to preserve what was observed and what happened next.
Common contamination indicators
Many contamination events begin with subtle changes rather than obvious signs. The examples below are common observations in tissue culture, but they are not definitive diagnoses. Always record what you observe rather than assuming the cause.
| Observation | Possible cause |
|---|---|
| Cloudy or turbid medium | Possible bacterial contamination |
| White, grey, or coloured fuzzy growth | Possible fungal contamination |
| Rapid media discoloration | Possible contamination or media degradation |
| Tissue browning or blackening | Oxidation, stress, or possible contamination |
| Excessive callus decline or tissue collapse | Possible contamination or physiological disorder |
How to log a contamination event
Open the affected Plant or Explant and add a contamination log. Choose the closest contamination type, describe the issue, and record the date and time of the observation. Use Description and Notes for additional context, then set the Severity and Status.
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Contamination type | Select the closest available category, such as Mold, Bacteria, Fungal, Contaminated Media, Physiological Disorders, or Other |
| Issue | A short description of the observed issue |
| Log Date | Date and time the observation was recorded |
| Description | Optional details about visible appearance, location, or spread |
| Notes | Optional follow-up or laboratory context |
| Severity | Very Low, Low, Medium, High, or Critical |
| Status | Active, Under Investigation, Quarantined, Resolved, or Archived |
After you log it
Use the contamination record's Status to show whether the issue is Active, Under Investigation, Quarantined, Resolved, or Archived. If your lab also isolates or discards the culture, update the Explant's Stage or status separately according to your lab's workflow and SOPs.
Use comments to document follow-up discussions, mention teammates, and record decisions related to the contamination event.
Best practices
- Log contamination the same day you observe it. Memory degrades fast and timestamps matter.
- Record even minor or uncertain observations. If a suspected issue is not observed again, the original record still provides useful culture history.
- Use Description and Notes for appearance, location, spread, and follow-up context that may be difficult to reconstruct later.
- Update the contamination Status as follow-up progresses so active, investigated, quarantined, resolved, and archived records remain distinguishable.
- Review contamination records alongside room, Media Recipe, SOP, and culture-history context to look for recurring patterns that may warrant further investigation.