In vitro culture of erythrocytic stages of malarial parasite can prove helpful in understanding the biology of the parasite to locate new targets for drug designing and vaccine development. In the present study an attempt has been made to assess certain in vitro conditions which can provide the amiable environment for continuous growth of rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei. A total of eight different conditions were studied out of which G type proved to be the mosteffective in maintaining long-term in vitro culture of P. berghei. G type contained medium RPMI-1640 supplemented with HEPES, sodium bicarbonate and glucose, normal mouse serum and phenylhydrazine hydrochloride (PHC) - induced reticulocyte rich blood. The viability of the parasite in long-term culture was assessed by i.p. injections of 1 x 105 P. berghei- infected erythrocytes from terminated culture pellets after every 24h till 7 days in normal mice.
