Abstract
Since the cultivation of murine leprosy bacilli have not yet been succeeded and they are obligate intracellular parasites, they have been preserved by inoculating into rats or mice. However, there are some reports that the bacteria can be preserved in vitro by means of lyophilization method. Following the investigation by Shitame (1), the infectious activity of mycobacterium lepraemurium was still evident after 103 days of preservation in vitro by lyophilization, and Ryu (2) reported also that this activity kept intact for one year and three months in the same method.The purpose of the present paper is to indicate the interrelationships between the infectious activity of mycobacterium lepraemurium by means of lyophilization and sorts of solutions, in which the bacilli are suspended, at lyophilization.
