Cultures

Most of our algal cultures can be maintained in the light, so when you receive the culture, it can be stored on the lab bench at room temperature or under a cool white fluorescent light. Do not store at 4°C or the culture will die. Chlamy grows best at 20 – 25°C. If it is a photosynthetic mutant, keep it in dim or dark light. It is the responsibility of the user to understand culturing conditions, but if you do not know, please email us.

 

Plasmids

Plasmids in E. coli should be stored at 4°C until ready for use and it is recommended that they be used within 2 weeks upon arrival. Use a sterile inoculating loop and touch all sides of the agar plug to remove cells. You might not see any cells on your loop. Streak for single colonies on your preferred E. coli medium with the appropriate antibiotic. In the Chlamy Center, we use 150 µg/ml ampicillin, 50 µg/ml kanamycin, 50 µg/ml tetracycline and 100 µg/ml spectinomycin final concentration. Pick a single isolated colony, grow it up in liquid E. coli medium + antibiotic and do a mini prep to extract the plasmid.