[Attempt to obtain and maintain rumen entodiniomorph ciliates in axenic cultures]

A method to obtain and maintain rumen ciliates in either axenic cultures or cultures with a reduced flora is described; it consists of two or three incubating periods with different antibiotic associations (separated by washing) and renewing of nutrient medium. On these conditions, Polyplastron multivesiculatum is obtained in an axenic state and can survive for 5 days. Entodinium sp. can survive for 10 to 14 days, but with a reduced bacterial population composed only of strict aerobic of facultative anaerobic species.