Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-16T10:52:34.224Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Elleipsisoma thomsoni Franca, 1912: an Apicomplexan parasite in the red blood cells of the mole (Talpa europaea)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

Hassan A. Mohamed  and
D. H. Molyneux
Hassan A. Mohamed
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Salford, Salford M5 4 WT
D. H. Molyneux
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Salford, Salford M5 4 WT
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The rediscovery of Elleipsisoma thomsoni Franca 1912 from Talpa europaea is reported. This organism, whose identity as a parasite was initially doubted, is shown to be an intra-erythrocytic protozoan parasite. Light microscope observation confirmed the original description and 22/53 (42·5%) moles examined from a locality near Blackpool were positive. Organ impression smears demonstrated that E. thomsoni was concentrated in the heart and lungs, occasionally in the kidneys, liver and spleen. Electron microscope studies conclusively showed that the parasite was a member of the phylum Apicomplexa. A typical apical complex was present with rhoptries, micronemes, polar ring and microtubules but, in contrast to the genera Plasmodium, Babesia and Theileria, a conoid was also present. The parasitized red cells were larger than normal mature erythrocytes and the remaining cytoplasm of the erythrocyte was less dense than that of non-infected red cells. The problem of studying this enigmatic parasite and its life-cycle are described.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , December 1984 , pp. 407 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aikawa, M. & Sterling, C. R. (1974). Intracellular Parasitic Protozoa. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Andreassen, J. & Behnke, O. (1968). Fine structure of merozoites of a rat coccidian, Eimeria miyairii with a comparison of the fine structure of other sporozoa. Journal of Parasitology 54, 150–63.Google Scholar
Canning, E. U., Cox, F. E. G., Croll, N. A. & Lyons, K. M. (1973). The natural history of Slapton Ley Nature Reserve. VT. Studies on the parasites. Field Studies 3, 681–718.Google Scholar
Coles, A. C. (1914). Blood parasites found in mammals, birds and fishes in England. Parasitology 7, 17–61.Google Scholar
Cox, F. E. G. (1970). Parasitic protozoa of British wild mammals. Mammal Review 1, 1–28.Google Scholar
Fawcett, D. W., Doxsey, S., Stagg, D. A. & Young, A. S. (1982). The entry of sporozoites of Theileria parva into bovine lymphocytes in vitro. Electron microscopic observations. European Journal of Cell Biology 27, 1O–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Franca, C. (1912). Sur les hématozoaires des taupes. Arquivos do Instituto Bacteriologico Camara Pestana 3, 271–8.Google Scholar
Gustafson, P. V., Agar, H. D. & Cramer, D. J. (1954). An electron microscope study of Toxoplasma. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 3, 1008–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laveran, A. & Marullaz, M. (1913). Au sujet du Trypanosoma talpae. Comptes Rendus des Séances de la Société de Biologie 74, 1007–8.Google Scholar
Levine, N. D. (1970). Taxonomy of sporozoa. Journal of Parasitology 56, 208–9Google Scholar
Levine, N. D., Corliss, J. O., Cox, F. E. G.. Deroux, G., Grain, J., Honigberg, B. M., Leedale, G. F., Loeblich, A. R., Lom, J., Lynn, D., Merinfeld, E. G., Page, F. C., Poljansky, G., Sprague, V., Vavra, J. & Wallace, F. G. (1980). A newly revised classification of the protozoa. Journal of Protozoology 27, 37–58.Google Scholar
Moltmann, U. G., Mehlhorn, H., Schein, E., Rehbein, G., Voigt, W. P. & Zweygarth, E. (1983). Fine structure of Babesia equi Laveran, 19O1, within lymphocytes and erythrocytes of horses. All in vivo and in vitro study. Journal of Parasitology 69, 111–2.Google Scholar
Reynolds, E. S. (1963). The use of lead citrate at high pH as an electron-opaque stain in electron microscopy. Journal of Cell Biology 17, 208–12.Google Scholar
Rudzinska, M. A. (1976). Ultrastructure of intraerythrocytic Babesia microti, with emphasis on the feeding mechanism. Journal of Protozoology 23, 224–33.Google Scholar
Rudzinska, M. A. & Trager, W. (1977). Formation of merozoites ill intra-ervthrocytic Babesia microti: an ultrastructural study. Canadian Journal of Zoology 55, 928–38.Google Scholar
Scholtyseck, E. (1973). Ultrastructure. in The Coccidia: Eimeria. Isopora, Toxoplasma and Related Genera (ed. Hammond, D. M. and Long, P. D.), pp. 81–144. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
Scholtyseck, E., Mehlhorn, H. & Friedhoff, K. (1970). The fine structure of the conoid of sporozoa and related organisms. Zeitschirift für Parasitenkunde 34. 68–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholtyseck, E. & Piekarski, C. (1965). Elektronerlmikroskopische Untersuchungen an Merozoiten von Eimerien (E. perforans und E. steidae) und Toxoplasma gondii zur systematisehen Stellung von Toxoplasma gondii. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 26, 91–115.Google Scholar
Sheffield, H. G. & Hammond, D. M. (1966). Fine structure of first generation of Eimeria bovis. Journal of Parasitology 52, 595–606.Google Scholar
Shortt, H. E. & Blackie, E. J. (1965). An account of the genus Babesia as found in certain small mammals in Britain. Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 68, 37–42.Google Scholar
Sinden, R. E. (1978). Cell Biology. In Rodent Malaria (ed. R, Killick-Kendrick and W, Peters), pp. 85–168. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Tanabe, M. (1932). An intracorpuscular parasite of the mole. Keijo Journal of Medicine 3, 88–91.Google Scholar
Thomson, J. D. (1906). Blood parasites of the mole including a new form of intra-corpuscular parasite. Journal of Hygiene 6, 574–9.Google Scholar
Watson, M. L. (1958). Staining of tissue sections for electron microscopy with heavy metals. Journal of Biophysics, Biochemistry and Cytology 4, 475–8.Google Scholar
Wenyon, C. M. (1926). Protozoology, A Manual for Medical Men, Veterinarians and Zoologists Vol. 2. London: Baillière, Tindall.Google Scholar