The effect of oxygen and carbon dioxide on the development of the free-living stages of Strongyloides ratti in axenic culture

The effect of oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration on the development of the free-living stages of Strongyloides ratti in axenic culture was examined. Hatching of S. ratti eggs was inhibited at very low oxygen levels. Development of all organisms was inhibited in medium gassed with less than 4% O2 in 0.03% CO2 with the remainder N2. Between 8 and 21% O2 there was no significant difference in the percentage developing directly to filariform larvae, free-living females, or free-living males. Cultures gassed with CO2 concentrations greater than 1% in 21% O2 with the remainder N2 manifested inhibited development to filariform larvae, whereas concentrations between 5 and 7.5% enhanced development to free-living females. There was a positive effect on increasing the CO2 concentration from 0.03% to 5% on development to filariform larvae and male worms at levels of 1% and 2% oxygen in nitrogen, respectively. Direction of development, either directly to the filariform larva or to the free-living female, was influenced by CO2 and O2 concentrations encountered by the egg or the newly hatched larva of the parasitic female in axenic culture. The axenic culture system permits an important experimental approach to the study of factors modulating the differentiation of the free-living stages of Strongyloides.