Identification and Control of Latent Bacteria in Cultures of Sweetpotato [ (L.) Lam].

Bacterial microorganisms which are latent in cultures can limit the efficiency of methods for the conservation of genetic resources. In this study we screened 2,373 accessions from the sweetpotato germplasm collection of the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru for bacteria associated with plantlets in tissue culture through a combination of morphological methods and partial 16S rDNA sequencing. Bacteria were detected in 240 accessions (10% of the accessions screened) and we were able to isolate 184 different bacterial isolates from 177 different accessions.