Axenic Cultivation of Phytomonas (Trypanosomatidae) Associated with Laticiferous Plants in Suriname1

Using variously enriched media, axenic cultures were obtained of Phytomonas spp. associated with Allamanda cathartica, Mandevilla scabra, and Rhabdadenia biflora (Apocynaceae), and Blepharodon nitidus (Asdepiadaceae) and Euphorbia hirta (Euphor-biaceae). Cultures were usually subcultured once every week for many weeks in succession. Attempts to grow the flagellates from Bonafousia tetrastachya (Apocynaceae), Cecropia palmata (Cecropiaceae), and Euphorbia hyssopifolia (Euphorbiaceae) were unsuccessful. The “phytomonads” in latex of different host plants showed morphological differences, whereas the cultured flagellates were similar in morphology whatever the host plant source or culture medium.