Microbiological Gelling Agent
Gellan gum, also branded by few suppliers as Grovgel, AppliedGel, Phytagel or Gelrite, is used primarily as a gelling agent, alternative to agar, in microbiological culture. It is able to withstand 120 °C heat, making it especially useful in culturing thermophilic organisms. One needs only approximately half the amount of gellan gum as agar to reach an equivalent gel strength, though the exact texture and quality depends on the concentration of divalent cations present. Gellan gum is used as gelling agent in plant cell culture on Petri dishes, as it provides a very clear gel, facilitating light microscopical analyses of the cells and tissues. Although advertised as being inert, experiments with the moss Physcomitrella patens have shown that choice of the gelling agent - agar or Gelrite - does influence phytohormone sensitivity of the plant cell culture.
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