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Cultivation of Phytomonas davidi (Trypanosomatidae) in Serum-Free and in Chemically Defined Media. Robert E. Davis, Microbiology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705; Meghnad Konai(2), and Ing-Ming Lee(3). (2)Microbiology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705; (3)Department of Botany, University of Maryland, College Park 20742. Phytopathology 77:177-182. Accepted for publication 28 March 1986. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1987.. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-77-177.

Phytomonas davidi (Trypanosomatidae), a flagellated protozoan found in latex vessels of plants in the Euphorbiaceae, was cultured in a new chemically defined medium (P201) as well as in complex undefined media in which serum was replaced by a mixture of lipid-extracted bovine serum albumin, cholesterol, fatty acids, phospholipids, hemin chloride, and Tween 80. Titers of the protozoan reached over 10⁸ cells per milliliter from starting titers of 10²–10³ per milliliter. Keto acids (α-ketoglutarate and pyruvate) and nucleosides and bases promoted growth. Growth was inhibited by cysteine in some media. A strict requirement for hemin was observed. Chemically defined and serum-free media present new opportunities for research on nutritional requirements of P. davidi, and offer a new approach toward eventual cultivation of protozoans associated with plant diseases.