WSJM, a simple chemically defined medium for growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Abstract

The growth requirements of 135 clinical isolates of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and 6 American Type Culture Collection reference strains were examined by using a simple chemically defined medium known as Wong-Shockley-Johnston medium, WSJM. The simple liquid medium supported growth of gonococci from an inoculum of 2 x 106 colony-forming units ml-1 and yielded 1010 colony-forming units ml-1 in 10 h in the absence of CO2. Scale-up experiments with the complete medium yielded 5 to 10 g, wet weight, of cells per liter. The complete medium was stable upon storage at 5°C and after lyophilization.