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Hello,
I'm asking this question on behalf of a biology professor who teaches at the college where I work as the lab coordinator. She would like to establish a heterotrophic culture of euglena, but she doesn't know what conditions to use, or what food source to use. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.
How to Culture Euglena Heterotrophically
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Re: How to Culture Euglena Heterotrophically
Hi,
I'm not expert in Euglena culture but I do know something about its biology. It is one of those talented organisms that is able to feed itself through photosynthesis (autotrophic) or use nutrients from the pond in which it lives (heterotrophic). I believe that light is the switch. At night obviously the heterotrophic conditions predominate; but during the day, if light is limited then Euglena will switch to heterotrophy provided there is enough oxygen dissolved in the water and carbon and nitrogen sources.
As far as I know, the Euglena culture medium is the same for both auto- and hetero-trophic pathways. The difference is that for heterotrophy you need to reduce the amount of light and increase the oxygenation by aerating the culture with an aquarium pump, for example.
Carolina Biologicals is a good source for Euglena culture medium: http://www.carolina.com/biological-medi ... /132320.pr
When you order the medium you can also ask them about heterotrophic conditions. They have been in business almost 100 years and are pretty knowledgeable about growing single-celled beasties.
I did a Google search for 'heterotrophic euglena culture' and found a lot of hits but nothing that seemed very helpful to someone trying to grow them. If you have specific questions about the growth medium, lighting, aeration, etc. I can try to find the answers for you, but sometimes the best way is just to try it yourself and work out the bugs in your own system.
Good luck!
Sybee
I'm not expert in Euglena culture but I do know something about its biology. It is one of those talented organisms that is able to feed itself through photosynthesis (autotrophic) or use nutrients from the pond in which it lives (heterotrophic). I believe that light is the switch. At night obviously the heterotrophic conditions predominate; but during the day, if light is limited then Euglena will switch to heterotrophy provided there is enough oxygen dissolved in the water and carbon and nitrogen sources.
As far as I know, the Euglena culture medium is the same for both auto- and hetero-trophic pathways. The difference is that for heterotrophy you need to reduce the amount of light and increase the oxygenation by aerating the culture with an aquarium pump, for example.
Carolina Biologicals is a good source for Euglena culture medium: http://www.carolina.com/biological-medi ... /132320.pr
When you order the medium you can also ask them about heterotrophic conditions. They have been in business almost 100 years and are pretty knowledgeable about growing single-celled beasties.
I did a Google search for 'heterotrophic euglena culture' and found a lot of hits but nothing that seemed very helpful to someone trying to grow them. If you have specific questions about the growth medium, lighting, aeration, etc. I can try to find the answers for you, but sometimes the best way is just to try it yourself and work out the bugs in your own system.
Good luck!
Sybee