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1 From the Department of Tropical Medicine, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, Mass.
By means of preliminary experiments, the osmotic pressure, pH, and mono- to bivalent ion ratio most favorable to the survival of the symbiotic intestinal flagellates of termites were determined. On the basis of these and other facts, balanced salt solutions were constructed and tested, with the addition of cellulose and low concentrations of protein, as culture media.
In this way a medium was obtained in which the xylophagous flagellate, Trichomonas termopsidis, from Termopsis angusticollis, has been cultured for over three years. A Trichomonas from Reticulitermes flavipes, and Tricercomitus termopsidis from Termopsis angusticollis were cultured in the same medium. The last two organisms did not require cellulose.
In a somewhat different medium, excellent initial cultures of the hypermastigote, Trichonympha sphærica, from Termopsis angusticollis, were obtained, and the organisms could be carried through a first subculture but not through a second. Attempts to improve the medium so as to secure continuous cultivation failed.
Experiments with Trichomonas termopsidis showed that it cannot utilize any carbon source other than cellulose. This protozoön probably secretes glucose, which is used by its insect host.
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 M. A. YAMIN Cellulose Metabolism by the Flagellate Trichonympha from a Termite Is Independent of Endosymbiotic Bacteria Science, January 2, 1981; 211(4477): 58 - 59. [Abstract] [PDF]
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