Survival time and critical temperatures of various strains of Entamoeba histolytica

Abstract

Six strains of Entamoeba histolytica and one strain of Entamoeba coli were subjected to different temperatures. The single strain of E. coli tested proved to be more resistant to the high temperatures and more susceptible to the low temperatures than all the E. histolytica strains under study. Individual strains of E. histolytica differed in the length of their survival time at varying temperatures.Interchanging the bacterial flora of some of the strains produced no significant changes in the survival times of the amebae except for one monobacterial strain which benefited by the increase in bacterial flora.The critical temperature of three strains of E. histolytica and one strain of E. coli was carefully investigated. There were marked differences in the critical temperature among all strains. However, interchanging the bacterial flora of the strains did not alter their critical temperature.