The effect of defined media, additive nutrients and metabolites on the development of the sporogony cycle of Plasmodium berghei in Anopheles stephensi.

Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes were infected with Plasmodium berghei by feeding on parasitaemic hamsters. After the infective blood meal they were separated into groups that were maintained on sugar solutions containing different additives. The numbers of oocysts developing in the various groups were then compared. When either casein, haemoglobin or foetal bovine serum was added to the sugar, the yield of oocysts was 1.6-2.1 times higher than that in controls fed only on sugar solutions. When either medium 199, Leibovitz's formulated L15 (L15-B) or 'B' compounds alone were added, the yield of oocysts was 2.3-2.9 times higher than that in the controls. The addition of p-aminobenzoic acid, hypoxanthine, methiolnine, or fractions of 'B' had no significant effect on the number of oocysts.