Mycoplasma Detection & Elimination Kits Assays
Test cell cultures for mycoplasma in about an hour with a colour-change read-out, and clear contaminated lines with an elimination kit.
Colorimetric LAMP detection read by eye, pink to yellow, after one hour at 65°C. Detects 40 mycoplasma species.
A one-hour colorimetric test for routine screening of culture supernatants.
Treat contaminated cultures to remove mycoplasma when cells cannot simply be discarded.
Mycoplasma are small bacteria without a cell wall that pass through standard sterilising filters and are not visible by routine microscopy. Contamination alters cell growth, metabolism and gene expression without obvious signs, so it can silently compromise experimental results.
A small number of species account for the great majority of cell culture contaminations. Routine testing of supernatants, and testing of every new cell line before it enters the lab, is the most reliable protection.
Take a small volume of culture supernatant or cell suspension.
Add to the reaction mix and incubate for about one hour.
A colour change indicates mycoplasma; no instrument is needed to read the result.
Never reopen a reaction tube after incubation, because aerosols can contaminate later tests. Change tips between samples and always add the positive control last.
Some media ingredients can interfere with the colour. Pellet the mycoplasma by high-speed centrifugation, discard most of the supernatant and resuspend in sterile water before testing.
Discard the cells where possible to protect other cultures. If the line is irreplaceable, treat it with the elimination kit and retest.
Quarantine and test new cell lines, test cultures routinely, and keep good aseptic technique.