58
edits
(text) |
(Text) |
||
Line 35: | Line 35: | ||
|x | |x | ||
|} | |} | ||
* Fill the needed amount of water either into a pot or the Erlenmeyer flask | |||
* Weigh the needed amount of powdered agar (e.g. by using some aluminium foil as a dish) | |||
* Stir the agar into the water | |||
* Stir and heat the mixture until it's boiling (by using the stovetop or microwave) and take it off the heat before it boils over | |||
* Pour the mixture into the petri dishes until they are max. halfway full, close the lids and let them cool down until the medium has solidified | |||
Line 53: | Line 51: | ||
A supply of oat flakes can be used as a source of food. | A supply of oat flakes can be used as a source of food. | ||
Newly bought oat flakes can be put into a sealed container (e.g. a glass bottle or a mason jar), but if you want to try to prevent future contamination as much as possible, the oat flakes can be <u>sterilized</u>: | |||
Materials: Glass jars with lids, cotton wadding, aluminium foil, water, pressure cooker | Materials: Glass jars with lids, cotton wadding, aluminium foil, water, pressure cooker | ||
* Prepare a jar with a lid by putting a hole into the lid and insert some cotton wadding tightly into the hole (the hole in the lid is very important, otherwise the jar might burst inside the pressure cooker) | |||
* Fill some oat flakes into the jars, close the lid and put aluminium foil over the lid to prevent contamination later on (cover the lid completely) | |||
* Pour enough water into the pressure cooker, but not so much that the glasses are floating (follow manual for guidance), place the glasses inside | |||
* Close and lock the lid and wait until the needed temperature and pressure point are reached (121°C, 15 PSI) | |||
* Reduce the at minimum heat at which it is possible for the water to keep boiling | |||
* From that point on, wait about 50 minutes and ensure that the pressure of 15 PSI is kept throughout this time | |||
* After that wait for the cooker to cool down on it's own and only then release the pressure to prevent it from boiling over | |||
* Take out the jars, let them cool down and only open them under a flow hood with gloves and disinfected hands | |||
'''<big>Step 3: Starting a new culture</big>''' | |||
- | <u>Materials:</u> gloves, tweezers, bunsen burner, paper towels, 70%-alcohol, petri dish with agar-medium, oat flakes | ||
* (put on the flow hood and disinfect the surface you are working on with alcohol, however the '''flow hood is''' '''not''' '''absolutely necessary''' ) | |||
* put on gloves | |||
* spray a paper towel with alcohol and clean the tweezers, then hold them over the flame of the burner (doesn't have to be long) (and put them into the flow hood) | |||
* disinfect your hands with alcohol before working with the slime mold | |||
''' | '''There are two ways for starting a new culture of Physarum:''' | ||
# Using a part of an already existing culture: <u>Materials:</u> Petri dish with culture of Physarum, gloves, tweezers, bunsen burner, paper towels, 70%-alcohol, petri dish with agar-medium, oat flakes | |||
* | |||
- If there is already a culture available, take an oat flake with slime mold on top of it and place it in the prepared petri dish (or multiple oat flakes) | - If there is already a culture available, take an oat flake with slime mold on top of it and place it in the prepared petri dish (or multiple oat flakes) | ||
edits