GROWTH OF CELLULAR FORMS IN CULTURES OF CHROMATIN BODIES ISOLATED FROM BACILLUS MEGATERIUM

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Chatterjee, B. R. (Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, Texas) and Robert P. Williams. Growth of cellular forms in cultures of chromatin bodies isolated from Bacillus megaterium. J. Bacteriol. 85:623–627. 1963.—Chromatin bodies isolated from old cultures of Bacillus megaterium were capable of growing into protoplastlike cells when cultured in broth enriched with horse serum, yeast extract, adenosine triphosphate, and penicillin. A tendency toward formation of rod forms of bacteria was observed in such cultures. Omission of penicillin from the medium resulted in development of short bacterial forms. In 3 of 29 experiments, actual bacillary forms indistinguishable from the parent B. megaterium organism were recovered. Culture of the chromatin bodies in plain nutrient broth did not produce any growth. Inoculation on serum-enriched agar medium of a culture of chromatin bodies, after they had begun multiplication in serum-enriched broth, resulted in development of large bodies characteristic of L forms. Ability of chromatin bodies to grow was not affected by heating for 2 hr at 80 C or by sonic treatment for up to 25 min. The possible role of such resistant chromatin bodies in the latency and persistence of infectious diseases was discussed.

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