title: [Morphological features to be considered as the growth of Mycobacterium leprae Thai-53 strain on a silicon coated slide in a cell-free liquid medium].
abstract: Morphological findings of the cells of Mycobacterium leprae Thai-53 strain smeared on a silicon-coated slide cultured in Kirchner liquid medium pH 7.0, enriched with adenosine, egg yolk, folinic acid, vitamin K3, lecithin, and N-acetylglucosamine at 30 degrees C were demonstrated. On the basis of the results with exquisite morphological growth patterns and the increase in the amount of tempelate DNA prepared from the cultured cells, it is evident that the cells of M.leprae are capable of multiplication under cell-free in vitro conditions. The reason why the ATP content did not increase in parallel with morphological features and the increase in the DNA is presumably that the multiplication of M.leprae in this culture system was supported only by consuming the energy derived from the infected host cells.
authors.affiliation: Koga Hospital Medical Research Institute, Kurume, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000254:growth & development*; D012825:Silicon
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012825:Silicon