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Ultrastructural Evidence for the Presence of Bacteria, Viral‐like Particles, and Mycoplasma‐like Organisms Associated with Giardia spp. 1
Author(s) -
FEELY DENNIS E.,
CHASE DAVID G.,
HARDIN E. LEE,
ERLANDSEN STANLEY L.
Publication year - 1988
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.1550-7408.1988.tb04095.x
Subject(s) - giardia , biology , ultrastructure , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , protozoa , heron , intracellular parasite , mycoplasma , fluorescence microscope , fluorescence , ecology , botany , quantum mechanics , genetics , physics
.Giardia trophozoites and cysts, isolated from mammalian and avian hosts, were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and by fluorescent light microscopy for the presence of microbial symbionts. Mycoplasma‐like organisms were observed on the surfaces of trophozoites isolated from the prairie vole, laboratory rat, and beaver. Intracellular bacteria were observed by TEM in the trophozoites and cysts of G. microti and by fluorescence microscopy in trophozoites and cysts of Giardia spp. isolated from beaver, muskrat, great‐blue heron, and the green heron. Trophozoites of G. muris from rat small intestine contained viral‐like particles measuring 60 nm in diameter. These observations suggest that biological associations between Giardia spp. and diverse microbes may be more common than formerly appreciated. It also raises the possibility of transmission of these apparent symbionts, via the Giardia cyst, to other mammalian hosts including man.