Multiplication of Mycobacterium lepraemurium in Cell-free Liquid Medium

Abstract

Additional evidence was given to show that Mycobacterium lepraemurium which has been thought as an obligate intracellular parasite so far, could multiply in the enriched Kirchner medium containing α-ketoglutaric acid, cytochrome C, hemin, and 1-cysteine HCl or 1-cysteine (NC-5 medium). When the bacilli were cultivated in this cell-free culture medium at 30°C for 60 days, the number of bacilli quantitatively increased approximately 25 to 100 times comparing with the inoculum.