A three-step screening procedure for detection of covert and endophytic bacteria in plant tissue cultures 

 -  Current Science, 87, p.67-72., 2004 .
<br/><br/> A sequential three-step screening procedure to detect any covert or endophytic bacteria in plant tissue cultures was developed consequent to the observation that conventional detection methods were inconsistent and undependable. This procedure involved diligent visual examination of cultures for any inconspicuous growth (step-1), indexing the medium of visually clean cultures using bacteriological media (step-2), and subsequent tissue-indexing (step-3)using split segments from different plant parts. Step-2 indexing of grape, watermelon, papaya, capsicum, eggplant and gerbera cultures revealed bacteria in 0-100