title: Mycoplasma in tissue culture: overview of detection methods.
abstract: Mycoplasma contamination of tissue cultures is too costly, scientifically damaging and inappropriate, and perhaps, even medically hazardous to be ignored. Prevention by continuous surveillance demands adequate mycoplasma testing procedures. Despite a proliferation of indirect methods, the present consensus indicates that careful and extensive microbiological testing is still the cornerstone of any mycoplasma detection program. The finding of 'non-cultivable' or possible tissue-adapted micro-organisms plus the variability in microbiological expertise of many laboratories, makes the selection of at least one additional method imperative. At the present, though no one test will prove 100% satisfactory and selection should partly depend on available expertise, the method based on the ratio of the specific activities of incorporated radio-labelled uridine to uracil into RNA appears to be an acceptable choice due to its simplicity and general validity.
mesh_terms: D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002460:Cell Line; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012313:RNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D014498:Uracil / Q000378:metabolism; D014529:Uridine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014498:Uracil; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA; D014529:Uridine