I need help with crown gall ASAP!

[Tim Miller]

Please help! I chose an experiement that requires diagnosing garlic to prevent crown gall in plants. I have the plants but I need to find out how to get the bacteria (Agrobacterium Faciens) desperately! I can't get a plant that's already infected! There's no way I'm buying one for 100 dollars! Why was this a science project topic of getting the bacteria is almost impossible? Is there anyway I can get chemicals from a science teacher or in my house to make/infect crown gall? If so, what are they? PLEEEEEEAASE HELLLLP!!!!

[Lise Byrd]

Tim,

The page I found that describes your project suggests using an already-infected plant as the source of A. tumefaciens. Have you tried asking around at local nurseries? If one has a crown gall-infected plant, I see no reason why they wouldn't be willing to give it to you for under $50.

Hope this helps,
Sonia

[Tim Miller]

Are you sure there's absolutely no chemicals found in a household or HIGH SCHOOL LAB I could use???

[Lise Byrd]

A. tumefaciens is a living organism, so you would not be able to use chemicals to make crown gall.

http://www.sciencestuff.com/ctgy/5Ls-LiveBac offers A. tumefaciens for $13. I don't know how reliable the site is, however.

Sonia