Effective Increase in Nematode Populations by the Addition of Aureomycin

Abstract

THE usefulness of nematodes of the saprophytic genera Panagrellus and Rhabditis maintained in mixed culture in corn meal agar for experimental purposes is often limited by severe bacterial contamination. Aureomycin was added to some of these cultures in an attempt to minimize this condition. Casual observations over a period of months seemed to indicate an increased nematode population in the aureomycin plates when compared with the untreated plates. The following experiment was carried out to establish the validity of these observations.