Cyanophage plaque purification
Plate cells as described in Plating Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus strains in top agarose for plaque assays.
When plaques begin showing up, pick them using the “coring” technique.
To follow the liquid cultures, you just need to check (by eye) every couple of days to see if any of them have lysed.
When you check them, give them a quick LOW-SPEED vortex (<4) to get the cells off the bottom of the tube (particularly the Syn) without spilling cells.
When you go to “harvest” the cyanophage (after lysis), decant the tube into two 50 ml orange capped tubes.  
Spin on the Beckman JA-17 rotor, 10K (~13,800g), 17°C, 20 minutes.
Transfer the supernatant into two fresh pre-labeled acid-washed glass black-capped tubes (label with: cyanophage name, date, “spun”, 2xplaque purified) for storage.
Work asceptically in the hood with flame.
