Abstract
Two strains of Trypanosoma cruzi, House 510 and Limbo Tree Platform, were studied to determine whether maintenance in vertebrate cell culture would alter their biological characteristics. After having been maintained for several years in alternate mouse-insect passage using NIH general purpose male white mice and Rhodnius prolixus, respectively, the parasites were transferred into primary bovine embryo skeletal muscle cell culture and their intracellular doubling time and generation number quantified. A significant change appeared in the doubling time of each strain. Initially, the doubling times of the House 510 and Limbo Tree Platform strains were not significantly different. They were 8.6 ± 0.8 hr and 7.5 ± 0.5 hr, respectively. After a varying period in cell culture, these values changed to 11.4 ± 1.6 and 11.5 ± 1.3 hr, respectively. Other observations, unrelated to length of time in cell culture, included the appearance of many broad, trypomastigote forms with a decreased ability to reach host cells and a varying generation number ranging from 7 to 9.
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