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Culture Vial
Ultra-Low Expansion Borosilicate 3.3: Features a high-strain point glass matrix that resists thermal shock, ensuring structural integrity and zero-leach performance during repeated high-pressure steam sterilization and dry heat cycles.
Hermetic GL-Threaded Closure System: Engineered with precision-molded screw caps and chemically inert liners to maintain a gas-tight seal, preventing moisture loss, evaporation, or atmospheric contamination of sensitive culture media.
₹160.00
Quick Answer: The Culture Vial is a small tube-shaped vessel with an open mouth, closed with a plug or cap, in which living cultures are kept. A culture vial is widely used for Drosophila fruit fly stocks in genetics practicals, and also for plant tissue culture and small microbial cultures.
Culture Vials in Genetics Practicals
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is the standard organism for teaching Mendelian inheritance, and it is kept in small vials. A layer of food medium, often made from cornmeal, sugar or banana with yeast, is set in the bottom, and the vial is closed with a cotton, foam or cellulose plug that lets air in but keeps flies and mites from escaping or entering. Students collect virgin females, set up crosses between wild-type and mutant flies, such as vestigial-winged or white-eyed stocks, and count the phenotypes of the offspring over two generations.
The fly’s short life cycle, about ten days from egg to adult at 25 °C, is what makes this possible within a term. Vials allow many small crosses to run side by side and be labelled individually; larger culture bottles are used to bulk up stocks. The same vials suit plant tissue culture of small explants on agar medium, holding insect larvae for life-cycle study and short-term microbial slants.
The listing names it only as ‘Culture Vial’ without giving material, size or whether the base is flat or round. Clear and amber glass versions are listed separately, including the clear glass culture vial.
Applications
- Drosophila monohybrid and dihybrid cross experiments in school and college genetics
- Maintaining mutant fly stocks for demonstrations and projects
- Plant tissue culture of shoot tips and nodal segments on agar medium
- Rearing small insects to observe complete metamorphosis
Specifications
| Item | Vial for keeping live cultures |
| Closure | Cotton, foam or cellulose plug, or a cap, depending on use |
| Typical uses | Drosophila stocks and crosses, plant tissue culture, small cultures |
| Handling | Label each vial with contents and date |
| Material, size and base shape | Confirm at enquiry |
Care & Handling
- Transfer flies to fresh medium every two to three weeks, before mould or mites build up in the old vial.
- Autoclave used vials with medium and flies before washing, or freeze them to kill flies before disposal.
- Scrub out dried medium with a test tube brush and hot detergent solution, then rinse thoroughly.
- Keep plugs dry; a wet plug lets mould grow through into the culture.
Why Choose LabEquip
Genetics teachers and biotechnology labs need these vials in quantity, because each cross or explant takes its own vessel. LabEquip lists them in Biology Lab Products; tell us the size, material and closure you prefer through the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this vial used for in genetics classes?
It holds a small population of Drosophila fruit flies on food medium. Students set up crosses between flies with different traits in separate vials and count the offspring to test Mendelian ratios.
What food medium is used for fruit flies?
Common recipes combine cornmeal or banana with sugar, yeast and agar, plus a mould inhibitor. The medium is poured into the vial and allowed to set before flies are added.
What kind of plug should be used?
Cotton wool, foam or cellulose plugs allow air exchange while keeping flies in and mites out. Replace plugs that become wet or mouldy.
Why must female flies be virgin for a cross?
Female Drosophila store sperm after mating, so a female that has already mated with a sibling will produce offspring of that mating. Females are collected within a few hours of emerging, before they mate.
Can the vials be used for plant tissue culture?
Yes. Small explants such as shoot tips grow well on agar medium in vials, provided the vials, medium and closures are sterilised and the work is done in a clean air cabinet.
What size and material is this vial?
Vials of this kind are usually made of glass or clear plastic in several diameters. The listing does not state these details, so confirm them when you enquire.
Last Updated: September 2026
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