MULTIPLICATION OF BACTERIUM TULARENSE WITHIN HELA CELLS AND THE EFFECT OF ANTIBIOTICS

Abstract

Infection of HeLa cells with Bacterium tularense was investigated. A few organisms were taken up by host cells when horse serum was incorporated in the tissue culture medium, and these organisms grew well in the cytoplasm day by day, and eventually, damaged the cells.
Employing this tissue culture system, the activity of antibiotics against intracellular B. tularense was studied. Streptomycin and kanamycin did not inhibit growth of the organisms within the cells even at a concentration as high as 1000meg per ml in the culture medium, whereas chloramphenicol and tetracycline were bacteriostatic for the intracellular organisms at a concentration of 1.0mcg per ml.