THE CULTIVATION OF A CELLULOSE-DIGESTING FLAGELLATE, TRICHOMONAS TERMOPSIDIS, AND OF CERTAIN OTHER TERMITE PROTOZOA

Abstract

A special balanced salt solution was developed in which, with the addition of Loeffler''s blood serum and finely powdered cellulose, T. termopsidis from Termopsis angusticollis was maintained in culture for over 3 yrs. No growth occurred when the blood serum was replaced by peptone or by various amino acids, or when the cellulose was replaced by other carbohydrates. A bacillus present in the cultures could ferment glucose with gas-production but could not attack cellulose or cellobiose. Using gas-production by this organism as an indicator, evidence was obtained that T. termopsidis secretes glucose into the surrounding medium. In the same medium Tricercomitus termopsidis from T. angusticollis and a Trichomonas from Reticuli-termes flavipes were also cultured. These protozoa did not require cellulose.