Abstract
A quantitative method for following parasite growth in vitro is described. The method is based on the determination of the degree of incorporation of phosphorus into the nucleic acids, in particular desoxypentose nucleic acids, of the parasitized cell. Phosphorus incorporation is measured by utilizing the radioactive isotope, P32. The degree of phosphorus incorporation into DNA was found to be closely correlated with estimates of parasite growth based on stained film examinations of intact cell preparations. The isotope was likewise found to be incorporated into the DNA of preparations in which the host cell had been disrupted by lysis and the extent of this incorporation also paralleled the impressions gained from smear examinations. It is suggested that this method provides a sensitive and objective method of studying parasite growth.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (764.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- HULL W., KIRK P. L. Tissue culture studies; the relationship of incorporation of radioactive phosphorus in nucleic acid to the growth of cells in vitro. J Gen Physiol. 1950 Mar;33(4):335–342. doi: 10.1085/jgp.33.4.335. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- KOZLOFF L. M., PUTNAM F. W. Biochemical studies of virus reproduction; chemical composition of Escherichia coli bacteriophage T6 and its host. J Biol Chem. 1949 Nov;181(1):207–220. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SACKS J. A fractionation procedure for the acid-soluble phosphorus compounds of liver. J Biol Chem. 1949 Dec;181(2):655–666. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- TRAGER W. Studies on the extracellular cultivation of an intracellular parasite (avian malaria). I. Development of the organisms in erythrocyte extracts, and the favoring effect of adenosinetriphosphate. J Exp Med. 1950 Oct 1;92(4):349–366. doi: 10.1084/jem.92.4.349. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]