A Comparison of Alternative Methods to Viable Count for Indicating Growth of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in Liquid Culture

In an attempt to find a more rapid method than a viable count for estimating growth of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in broth culture, seven alternative methods were each examined for their correlation with viable counts, reproducibility and time taken to obtain results. Opacity measurement was the quickest and showed closest correlation with viable count and also high reproducibility. The other methods examined showed either lack of sensitivity or reproducibility or poorer correlation with viable count.