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Study on the Growth of Rickettsiae

III. Influence of Extracellular Environment on the Growth of Rickettsia Tsutsugamushi in Tissue Culture Cells

From the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland

Abstract

The observed growth rate of Rickettsia tsutsugamushi (about 2- to 3-fold each 24 hr) in MB III and L929 cells maintained in an enriched medium suggests that slow multiplication is an inherent characteristic of the organism.

R. tsutsugamushi gradually died off in L929 cells maintained in simple nonprotein solutions which were incapable of supporting host cell proliferation. However, when infected cultures treated in this fashion were transferred to enriched medium, the remaining viable rickettsiae as well as the host cells began to multiply.

Rickettsial proliferation in L929 cells occurred at 25° C, 35° C and 40° C although at the lower and higher temperatures growth was somewhat delayed.

It is postulated here that the role of the adequately nourished host cell may be more than nutritional in supporting rickettsial survival in that it provides an environment which protects the rickettsiae from loss of their essential components by leaching.

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