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Fine Structures Associated with Nutrition of the Intracellular Parasite Eimeria auburnensis *
Author(s) -
HAMMOND DATUS M.,
SCHOLTYSECK ERICH,
CHOBOTAR BILL
Publication year - 1967
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.1550-7408.1967.tb02061.x
Subject(s) - cytoplasm , vacuole , eimeria , pinocytosis , biology , endoplasmic reticulum , parasite hosting , vesicle , membrane , cell membrane , microbiology and biotechnology , biophysics , cell , biochemistry , endocytosis , world wide web , computer science
SYNOPSIS. In the nearly mature macrogametes of Eimeria auburnensis , the cell membrane is a unit membrane, with underlying and overlying osmiophilic layers usually present. Cup‐shaped micropores were occasionally seen. Smaller, V‐shaped invaginations were also found in considerable numbers at the surface. At the deepest point, these invaginations were bounded only by a unit membrane. Immediately adjacent to this point, vesicles with homogenous electron‐pale contents bounded by a similar unit membrane, were frequently seen. Pinocytosis evidently occurs at the site of these invaginations. Numerous folds of the host cell membrane bordering the vacuole in which the parasite lay extended about 0.1–0.7 μ into the vacuole. These “intravacuolar folds” varied in depth and number in different specimens. In some, the majority of folds had apparently become disconnected from the host cell membrane. A highly developed smooth endoplasmic reticulum occurred in the adjacent host cell cytoplasm. The intravacuolar folds may assist in transfer of nutrients, including membrane material, from the host cell to the parasite. The evidence indicates that in this species of Eimeria nutrients are taken into the parasite primarily as fluids by pinocytosis and possibly other processes.