Which organism cannot be cultured in cell-free media: (A) Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis, (B) Klebsiella ozaenae, (C) Treponema pallidum, (D) Sporothrix schenckii
Answer is C. Treponema cannot be grown in aificial culture media but is maintained by subculture in susceptible animals. Sporothrix is a dimorphic fungus, that form yeast in tissues at 37C and the mycelial phase in the culture at 25C. Klebsiella grows on ordinary media. Reference: Textbook of Microbiology; Ananthanarayan and paniker's; 10th edition; Pg: 379