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The effects of medium and rate of freezing on the survival of chlamydias after lyophilization
Author(s) -
Theunissen J.J.H.,
Stolz E.,
Michel M.F.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1993.tb02804.x
Subject(s) - freeze drying , lactose , glutamine , skimmed milk , sucrose , food science , chemistry , phosphate buffered saline , yolk sac , andrology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , chromatography , biochemistry , medicine , embryo , amino acid
The effects of suspension media and rate of freezing on the survival of Chlamydia trachomatis LGV 2 and Chlamydia pneumoniae after lyophilization were assessed. The highest loss in infectious elementary bodies (EBs) occurred during lyophilization. The survival was higher after freezing at a rate of 1°C min ‐1 and lyophilization than that after rapid freezing at ‐ 70°C or ‐ 196°C. The recovery (± 5%) was higher when fetal calf serum (FCS) containing glucose, saccharose or lactose were used as lyophilization media than that (0.5–3%) when yolk‐sac, skimmed milk or phosphate buffer containing sucrose, glutamine and 10% FCS (SPG) were used. After lyophilization, the survival was not affected in the tested range from 10 4 to 5 times 10 6 inclusion‐forming units (ifu) ml ‐1 prior to freezing. After storage for 4 months at 4°C, the numbers of ifu of both Chlamydia serovars that were recovered were identical to the numbers of ifu immediately after lyophilization. It was concluded that chlamydias can be stored and transported in lyophilized form. However, a loss of 95% in infectious EBs should be taken into account.