Kanamycin sulfate is a water-soluble aminoglycoside bactericidal antibiotic and broad-spectrum antibiotic obtained from soil bacterium Streptomyces kanamyceticus. It is an aminoglycoside antibiotic effective against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and some strains of mycoplasma. It binds to the 30S ribosomal subunit, inhibits translocation, and elicits miscoding.
The concentration of 10 mg/mL broad-spectrum aminoglycoside antibiotic solution was used as a supplement to cell culture media to control bacterial contamination. The concentration for microbiological works varies depending on experimental types.