Preservation of Leptospira icterohemorrhagiae in Vitro

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Cultures of L. icterohemorrhagiae and guinea pig livers infected with this spirochete were frozen at [long dash]20 C and others were lyophilized according to the technic of Flosdorf and Mudd. At various intervals after treatment samples were tested for viability and virulence by subculture, direct dark-field examination, and inoculation into young guinea pigs. The freezing of whole guinea pig liver blocks maintained the viability and virulence of the spirochetes for at least 100 days; the other methods were of no practical significance. Contamination of these frozen blocks invariably led to rapid death of the organisms. The destruction of viability and infectivity of leptospiras and treponemas upon drying from the frozen state is at variance with the successful preservation of most bacteria and viruses by such treatment. The reason for the inability of these pathogenic spirochetes to survive lyophilization is not known.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: