Intracellular Behavior of Brucella Variants in Chick Embryo Cells in Tissue Culture.

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Abstract
Smooth brucellae of all 3 spp. were ingested by, and multiplied within, chick embryo cells in tissue culture. Extracellular survival and growth of the brucellae were prevented by the addition of streptomycin (10 [mu]g/ml) to the medium. Non-smooth variants and strain 19 neither survived long nor multiplied intracellularly, unless the cells were massively infected. Smooth brucellae remained viable intracellularly for over 30 days despite the bactericidal amount of streptomycin in the medium. Extensive chick embryo cell destruction occurred only after 1 to 2 weeks infection with Brucella suis, and not at all with the other 2 spp. Mixed infection of cells with smooth and non-smooth brucellae showed the intracellular environment to be highly selective for the smooth type. Mutation from non-smooth to smooth type occurred in several heavily inoculated tissue cultures and was followed by selection of the smooth type intracellularly.