Defining the use of MS medium in plant science research

A survey of 500 recent peer-reviewed papers citing the use of MS medium for plant tissue culture has revealed that 358 (72%) of these published studies have inappropriately defined the composition of the MS medium used. This reveals that most authors do not appreciate the composition of the MS medium they have used. We encourage greater accuracy when describing the composition of all culture media used in biological sciences.<b>Key message</b>: The majority of peer-reviewed papers that cite the use of MS medium for plant tissue culture define the composition of this medium inappropriately.