Nutritional Studies on Acanthamoeba culbertsoni and Development of Chemically Defined Medium

A chemically defined medium containing 11 amino acids, 3 vitamins, 6 inorganic salts and glucose, yielding maximum cell densities of 1.5-2.5 x 10(7) cells/ml, has been developed for Acanthamoeba culbertsoni with a mean generation time (MGT) of 10 h. A medium containing six amino acids viz. arginine, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, valine and glycine along with other components could also support good albeit slower growth (MGT 27 h) of the amoeba. Acetate did not serve as a suitable carbon/energy source for A. culbertsoni. This organism bears close resemblance in its nutritional requirements to other Acanthamoeba especially A. polyphaga.