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Abstract
Summary: Axenic cyst cultures of Acanthamoeba castellanii (Neff strain) maintained in salt medium undergo excystment when transferred into enriched growth medium containing yeast extract and proteose peptone. Both the synchrony and extent of excystment induced in this manner are critically dependent upon the length of time cysts are aged in salt medium prior to the initiation of excystment. Cysts sustained in salt medium for 50 h or less characteristically show only about 10 % excystment even after 70 h in the enriched growth medium. With progressively longer periods of ageing the synchrony and degree of excystment improve such that for cysts of age ≥ 800 h, more than 85 % of the organisms germinate within a period of 12 h. Thus more complete and relatively synchronous excystment can be achieved by this simple experimental manipulation.
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