Conclusions
The embedding method places moss in direct contact with antibiotics, arresting bacterial replication and allowing moss to outgrow contamination. We anticipate this method will prove valuable for other plants capable of clonal propagation by blending.
Results
We blended moss protonema that had been inoculated with bacteria and embedded the cell fragments in antibiotic-containing, low-concentration agar. The plants were placed in a growth chamber and allowed to grow until the moss grew out of the media. The plants were then transferred to new plates and observed for contamination. The embedding method consistently outperformed standard procedures. • Conclusions: The embedding method places moss in direct contact with antibiotics, arresting bacterial replication and allowing moss to outgrow contamination. We anticipate this method will prove valuable for other plants capable of clonal propagation by blending.