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Dear All - must be my day for problems!! (second request!!!) We have purchased some E-coli and Staphylococcus broth for culturing: however the broth arrived in plastic vials, so how does one go about flaming the neck of the vial with the idea of streaking prepared agar plates. What do others do, do you pour the broth into a glass bottle and risk exposure to yourself or something that may have been in the reagent bottle!! Your input would be welcome. Cheers. Judy.

Hello judygee,
It would be ideal to have some sterilised McCartney bottles prepared.
These are meant for cultures and being glass are easier to effect transfers.
If it were me, I would then prepare my workspace.
Wipe the bench space down with about 70% methylated spirits.
Close any doors to eliminate draughts.
Wear protective latex examination gloves and safety glasses.
Arrange all the cultures and plates for culturing in appropriate places in front of you.
It IS possible to transfer from plastic vials - just keep the vial tilted and flame VERY briefly.
Perhaps a phone call to the supplier could give more tips if there was no instructions enclosed.
Have fun,
~Robyn

You should have no problem flaming the neck of a plastic vial. Its not as if the vial is in the flame for long and the plastic vial is probably autoclavable anyway!

Many thanks for your input Robyn and Sheryl, yes you are right the vials are autoclavable and therefore should be able to be passed through a flame without any problems. I also think it would be a good idea to keep some McCartney bottles on stand by! Once again, thanks for your advice, much appreciated. Cheers. Judy

Our mob is doing antibiotic Mandatory Prac with Mastrings (LOL had to google that word and recognized them in our fridge) and E.coli & Staphylococcus .
I can get 10mls of each Broth from Southern Bio . I have little idea about it's use as at our old school we bought the plates already inoculated IIRC . Is 10mls enough to smear over 12 plates before laying down the Mastrings ?

10mls of broth is plenty, you just need 50 μl for each plate to spread. You will need the broths again for the second part, the student experiment. I do find the broths from Southern Bio hit and miss though.

PeterK wrote: 08 Aug 2024, 08:32 10mls of broth is plenty, you just need 50 μl for each plate to spread. You will need the broths again for the second part, the student experiment. I do find the broths from Southern Bio hit and miss though.

OK thanks Peter.
have you found a better supply ?

I get my broths and mastrings from Bio-Tek.

OK , contacted Bio-Tek .
They can do the Cultures and they are a bit cheaper than Southern Bio . Also being in QLD , I'll get them quicker .

But...Apparently there are no Mastrings available in Australia....all sold out .
O'l mate told me that the company in UK that makes them is having a problem sourcing one of the Antibiotics so has halted production .
He's being hounded by Southern Bio customers chasing them too .

Just a quick update.
Biotek made the broths on Monday and we received them , believe it or not via Aussie Post the next day .
The prac was done on the Wednesday and this morning (Thursday) , I found “classic “ textbook Petrie dishes in the incubator .
But man-O-man , the prep-room stunk of old socks and wet dog

The Bio teacher was totally supprised it worked as well as it did .She admitted they weren’t made under the most sterile conditions .

I’d recommend Biotek cultures …. certainly if you are in Qld , you’ll get them quick . …… and they work

I just used Biotek again .
Damn they are fast .emailed Steve yesterday morning and had confirmation in about 10 min .
Turned up this morning less than 24hrs after ordering .

bigmack wrote: 15 Aug 2024, 17:18 Just a quick update.
Biotek made the broths on Monday and we received them , believe it or not via Aussie Post the next day .
The prac was done on the Wednesday and this morning (Thursday) , I found “classic “ textbook Petrie dishes in the incubator .
But man-O-man , the prep-room stunk of old socks and wet dog

The Bio teacher was totally supprised it worked as well as it did .She admitted they weren’t made under the most sterile conditions .

I’d recommend Biotek cultures …. certainly if you are in Qld , you’ll get them quick . …… and they work

Did they make up the liquid broths for you? As in sterilised liquid broth, or do you just order the powdered medium? I couldn't see an option for prepared broths on the website. Thanks.

Here is the link
https://www.biotek.com.au/products/cons ... /cultures/

PeterK wrote: 17 Feb 2026, 12:57 Here is the link
https://www.biotek.com.au/products/cons ... /cultures/

Ah, thank you!