A proposed life cycle for the Reiter treponeme

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Abstract
Direct microscopic observations of single developing cysts in sealed slide microcultures prepared from 5 day old tube cultures of the Reiter treponeme revealed 2 distinct phases in the life cycle. In 1 phase, transverse fission was the main method of multiplication; in a 2nd phase, occurring when conditions in the medium became unfavorable for propagation, cysts developed. These released large numbers of actively motile treponemes when returned to optimum growth conditions. These observations, together with results of the dilution method for the calculation of the most-probable-number and the absence of a response in treponemes killed by high temperature (45.degree. C) or abnormal pH (10), showed that the cysts were viable and act as a mode of propagation for the Reiter treponeme.