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Abstract
SUMMARY: Populations of over 400 Epidinium ecaudatum caudatum/ml were maintained for over 18 months in the presence of bacteria, in a potassium phosphate-rich medium under 95% N2 + 5% CO2 with the daily addition of wholemeal flour and dried grass. Polyplastron multivesiculatum was also maintained at a population density of 45 to 70/ml under the same conditions, except that it was necessary to add each day a culture of another protozoon such as Epidinium ecaudatum caudatum, E. ecaudatum tricaudatum or Eudiplodinium maggii to give a population density of approximately 100/ml. The epidinia at least were engulfed by the polyplastron up to 10 being taken up each day; the minimum daily requirement for growth was one epidinium/polyplastron. Polyplastron multivesicutum also grew in the absence of other protozoa on a sodium chloride-rich medium, and if these protozoa were inoculated into the potassium phosphate-rich medium in the presence of epidinia, there was a lag of 3 to 5 days before they began to engulf the epidinia. The effect of other variations in the culture conditions is also described.
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