PRESERVATION OF SERRATIA MARCESCENS BY HIGH VACUUM LYOPHILIZATION
Abstract
Water-washed Serratia marcescens were lyophilized in an all-glass system capable of evacuation to pressures of less than 5 x 10 to the 6th power torr. Lyophilization at the lowest pressures resulted in 50 to 65% survival for unstabilized washed organisms compared with 10 to 20% for those lyphilized at pressures of about .025 torr. At the latter pressures, 45 to 65% survivals were obtained when NaCl or Naylor-Smith stabilizer was added to the cell suspensions before lyophilization. However, the stabilizers failed to increase significantly the levels of survival compared with water suspension for those lyophilized at pressures less than 1/100,000 torr. The high survival obtained by the high- vacuum technique may be attributed to the reduction of traces of molecular oxygen that has been reported to be destructive to the dried bacteria.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0475576
Entities
People
- Robert R. Dewald
Organizations
- United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories