In vitro cultivation of Anaplasma marginale in bovine erythrocytes co-cultured with endothelial cells

Abstract Primary cultures of Anaplasma marginale infected erythrocytes were used to determine conditions for in vitro cultivation of the rickettsia. The infected erythrocytes that were maintained by regular addition of Glasgow's MEM with fetal calf serum and uninfected erythrocytes showed a 1–5% increase in percent infected erythrocytes on the evaluation of Giemsa stained smears. This increase in parasitemia resulted in up to 70% change in the number of infected erythrocytes. Co-culture of the infected erythrocytes with endothelial cell monolayers allowed for longer maintenance with the parasitemia ranging from 5–13% through four passages over 16 weeks. Examination of cultures using transmission electron microscopy showed initial bodies within the erythrocytes at 10 days after the initial passage of the primary culture. The endothelial cell monolayers in the co-cultures contained multiple initial bodies. We have demonstrated that A. marginale can be grown for a limited number of passages in the co-culture system, which will facilitate the development of a continuous culture of the organism.