Potassium Tellurite as a Bacteriostatic Agent in isolating Algae

Abstract

AN essential prerequisite to obtaining predictable growth of algae under laboratory conditions is the establishment of axenic cultures, but this is often extremely difficult to achieve. The successful use of potassium tellurite as a bacteriostatic agent¹ in the pure isolation of representative aquatic fungi from the orders Blasto-cladiales, Chytridiales⁴ and Saprolegniales, using material direct from Nature which was sometimes highly contaminated with bacteria, suggested that algae might also respond to this treatment ; and the promising results obtained are reported in this communication.