Premium
Life History and Electron Microscopy of a Haplosporidian, Nephridiophaga blattellae (Crawley) n. comb., in the Malphigian Tubules of the German Cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.) *
Author(s) -
WOOLEVER PATRICIA
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1966.tb01973.x
Subject(s) - malpighian tubule system , spore , biology , cockroach , schizogony , microbiology and biotechnology , infectivity , intracellular parasite , zoology , intracellular , botany , virology , larva , immunology , ecology , malaria , virus , midgut , plasmodium falciparum
SYNOPSIS. Rearing of cockroaches without sporozoan parasites of the Malpighian tubules permitted the 1st experimental infections reported for these organisms as well as study of the intracellular early stages of infection. Infectivity tests show that the route of invasion is peroral rather than transovarian; that fresh spores obtained from either the Malpighian tubules or the hindgut are infective; that fresh spores held in aqueous suspension for 36 hr are not infective; that all ages and both sexes of cockroaches are susceptible, although older cockroaches are more readily infected experimentally; that a single peroral dose of a few hundred spores is sufficient to produce infection; that the earliest signs of progressive infection in the Malpighian tubules appear 15 days after ingestion of spores; and that the infection, spread mainly by schizogony, is well established by 23 days. Spores are acid‐fast. The PAS‐positive spore membrane is not dissolved by 20‐min treatment with hot KOH, but tests for chitin were inconclusive. The life history of the parasite is described. “Encapsulation” of the parasite has been observed. Electron microscope studies, the first reported for the class Haplosporea, show similarities of the cytoplasmic structure of this haplosporidian with that of some members of the sporozoan class Telosporea, though no specialized structures were seen. Finding of intracellular stages together with failure of interspecific infection attempts suggest that the microorganism should be placed in the genus Nephridiophaga Ivanic, 1937 with the specific name blattellae Crawley, 1905.