Serum-free GIT medium for short-term in vitro cultures of Babesia bigemina, Babesia divergens, and Theileria equi

Abstract

The present study evaluated serum-free GIT medium for the in vitro culture of Babesia bigemina, Babesia divergens, and Theileria equi. Parasite growth was compared with parasites grown in cultures containing M199 or RPMI1640 media with serum. The serum-free GIT medium supported the continuous in vitro culture of B. bigemina for 40 days. B. divergens growth was continuously cultured for 32 days in the serum-free GIT medium, and the parasite growth was similar to that in RPMI1640 with 10 % fetal calf serum and higher than the growth in M199 medium with 10 % fetal calf serum culture systems. Serum-free GIT medium supported the growth of T. equi for only 24 days, while the growth was sustained for 32 days in serum-free GIT medium supplemented with hypoxanthine. Parasite growth was similar to that in M199 medium supplemented with 40 % horse serum and hypoxanthine. The morphology of the three kinds of parasites was similar in serum-free GIT and the standard media with serum. Therefore, the present study indicated serum-free GIT medium alone for short-term in vitro cultivation of B. bigemina and B. divergens and supplemented with hypoxanthine for the in vitro culture of T. equi.