The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 23, Issue 1 89-92, Copyright © 1987 by Society for General Microbiology
The prolonged persistence of mycoplasmas in culture
D. Taylor-Robinson and J. Behnke
Mycoplasma fermentans organisms in medium containing 20% horse serum
multiplied to 10(7)-10(10) ccu/ml within 5 days at 37 degrees C and were
dead usually after 9 days. There was no growth in medium without serum, nor
in such medium with the addition of cholesterol or palmitic acid or both,
but in some experiments addition of bovine plasma albumin (BPA) increased
the number of organisms by up to 1000-fold and some remained viable for up
to 84 days. BPA and cholesterol or BPA, palmitic acid and cholesterol more
often enhanced growth, in terms of the maximum number of organisms and
their survival, than did the addition of BPA alone. The maximum number of
organisms in such supplemented serum-free media was usually at least
ten-fold less than in medium with horse serum, but some organisms remained
viable for up to 131 days. Survival of Ureaplasma urealyticum was also
longer in the supplemented serum-free medium than in standard horse-serum
medium. The possible factors affecting persistence of mycoplasmas in
culture are discussed in relation to these observations.
