Publication details
Eugregarines and cryptosporidia: peculiar parasites with epicellular development
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2008 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Gregarines and cryptosporidia are often considered to be peculiar apicomplexans, as they exhibit unique features in their attachment strategy, and some phylogenetic analyses have pointed out their affinity. This study focuses on the ultrastructural analysis of their early development and host-parasite interactions, and searches for explicit characteristics common to both apicomplexans. The formation of attachment site was studied in two eugregarines, Gregarina polymorpha and G. steini from laboratory reared insects, and obtained data were directly compared with comparable features observed during attachment process of Cryptosporidium muris in the stomach of experimentally infected rodents. In both apicomplexans, the apical complexes disappear early during cell invasion and parasites are attached to the host cell by their apical processes, i.e. epimerite in eugregarines and the feeder organelle in cryptosporidia. Data presented herein support the term epicellular to reflect cryptosporidian localization, rather than the term intracellular-extracytoplasmic traditionally used throughout the literature. The cryptosporidian attachment strategy is very similar to that of the eugregarines, which are also epicellularly located on the microvillous surface of host epithelial cells, although not enveloped by host cell membrane folds. Despite a few differences found among the studied eugregarines and cryptosporidia, our data support their close relationship. |
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