Fisher scientific (www.fishersci.com) is a good supplier of many general products:
The W.R. Jacobs Laboratory Care Package. This arrives free upon confirmation that the curricula will be performed.
1 mL freshly cultured M. smegmatis strain MC2-155.
1 mL Mycobacteriophage D29 at 1010 plaque-forming-units (PFU).
Essentials:
Middlebrook 7H9 media (Difco catalog no. 0627-17-4) can be prepared as suggested; glycerol is also necessary for preparation. (cost- supplier)
Noble Agar (Difco 0142-17-0)
Bacto-Agar
Tween 80 (Fisher T164-500)
Test tubes:
Test tube caps:
5 mL or similar syringes, and syringe filters. These must be sterile, and 0.22 uM filters are desired...other sizes risk contamination. These are a substantial expense for some, and it may be necessary to find another 0.22 uM filtration alternative that is suitable for your classroom. (cost-supplier). Expect 1 filter per soil sample, and 1 filter per making of High-Titer phage. However, some educators will not be making High-Titer phage and this should cut down on your expenses. Some syringes can be boiled for 10 minutes and reused. Some alternative filtration alternatives are...
Other items:
Gilson Pipetman are preferred. (Rainin Instrument Co., Inc.; Woburn, MA). (cost-
200 uL and 1000 uL pipet tips. I have friends from India who boiled and autoclaved their tips for reuse; this can be done if necessary. Otherwise, all diliutions can be done using pipetts and pipettors.
Parafilm.
A heating block is a nicety, allowing test tubes to be directly brought to a desired temperature. An incubator is a better primary investment, since test tubes can be placed in a rack inside. Give a couple extra minutes for the tubes to obtain the desired temperature.
Inkwell vials. Nalgene 30 mL are ideal. Otherwise, flasks can be used to cultivate M. smegmatis as described below.
A shaker that can be placed into a 37°C incubator, is desired for culture of M. smegmatis. However, a stir-bar can be used if a shaker is not available, as can sterile glass flasks. It is best to cultivate M. smegmatis at 37°C.
Pipette bulbs or plastic pipettors.
Sterile 5 mL pipettes. Plastic is expensive, however our laboratory uses (cost-supplier)
Petri plates.
Test tube racks.