Note on an assay of a synthetic serum substitute for growing mycoplasmas

Abstract

A synthetic serum substitute (Basal Medium Supplementation, BMS) has been utilized for growing mycoplasmes. Over agar medium, colonies become atypical. In liquid medium, microscope examination only reveals coccoidal elements, and their growth is inferior in amount to that obtained with a traditional animal serum. After the tenth subculture, the bacteria recover their full characteristics when submitted to a passage on a traditional medium. Due to its known composition, this synthetic serum substitute should be usable for advanced studies of mycoplasma organisms, in molecular biology for instance, but its use for isolating strains or antigen production is not recommended.