Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T00:52:41.046Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Observations on the nutrition of digenetic trematodes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. W. Halton
D. W. Halton
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, The University, Leeds*
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Both histological and histochemical studies have been made of the food, mode of feeding, gut cell structure and digestive sequences in a selected number of digenetic trematodes.

The species investigated range from gut-dwelling trematodes feeding on the superficial epithelial tissues and associated mucoid secretions of the host to those forms living within the respiratory and circulatory system and feeding exclusively on blood.

The mode of feeding is suctorial, brought about by the muscular pharynx and normal attachment process of the oral sucker. In one case there is evidence that this purely mechanical process is supplemented with enzymic secretions produced by the trematode which have a histolytic effect upon host tissues.

On the basis of gut cell structure the species investigated are divided into those with cells and associated microvilli that vary in size and appearance so that the gastrodermal border is irregular in outline, and those with a gastrodermis comprising regular cuboidal or columnar cells bearing microvilli organized into a striated border. There is evidence to suggest that this difference in gut cell structure reflects differences in digestion. In all cases, gland cells are absent from the gastrodermis which is capable of both secretory and absorptive functions.

Digestion is predominantly an extracellular process, but the exact sequence varies according to the nature of the food ingested and different degrees of adaptation are shown by the trematodes to the blood-feeding habit. The tissue-feeding species show less modification.

I wish to thank Dr J. B. Jennings for helpful discussion and advice throughout the course of this work. The study was undertaken during the tenure of a Studentship from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 57 , Issue 4 , November 1967 , pp. 639 - 660
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

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

Arvy, L. (1950). Données cytologiques et histochimiques sur l'hematophagie chez Haplometra cylindracea Zeder 1800. Annls Parasit. hum. comp. 25, 27–36.Google Scholar
Baer, J. G. (1933). Contribution à l'étude de la faune helminthologique africaine. Revue suisse Zool. 40, 31–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burstone, M. S. (1958). Histochemical demonstration of acid phosphatase with naphthol AS-phosphates. J. natn. Cancer Inst. 21, 523–39.Google ScholarPubMed
Burstone, M. S. & Folk, J. E. (1956). Histochemical demonstration of amino-peptidase. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 4, 217–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, B. (1962). A histological study of the caecal epithelium of Fasciola hepatica L. Parasitology 52, 483–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, B. (1963 a). The migration of juvenile forms of Fasciola hepatica L. through the wall of the intestines in the mouse, with some observations on food and feeding. Parasitology 53, 109–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, B. (1963 b). Hyperplasia of the bile duct in fascioliasis and its relation to the problem of nutrition in the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica L. Parasitology 53, 123–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawes, B. (1963 c). Some observations of Fasciola hepatica L. during feeding operations in the hepatic parenchyma of the mouse, with notes on the nature of liver damage in this host. Parasitology 53, 135–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erasmus, D. A. (1962). Studies on the adult and metacercaria of Holostephanus lühei Szidat, 1936. Parasitology 52, 353–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erasmus, D. A. & Öhman, C. (1963). The structure and function of the adhesive organ in strigeid trematodes. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 113, 7–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gomori, G. (1952). Microscopic Histochemistry. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Gresson, R. A. R. & Threadgold, L. T. (1959). A light and electron microscope study of the epithelial cells of the gut of Fasciola hepatica L. J. biophys. biochem. Cytol. 6, 157–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W. (1963). Some hydrolytic enzymes in two digenetic trematodes. Proc. XVI Int. Congr. Zool., Washington, D.C. vol. i, p. 29.Google Scholar
Halton, D. W. (1966). Occurrence of microvilli-like structures in the gut of digenetic trematodes. Experientia 22, 828–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W. (1967). Studies on phosphatase activity in Trematoda. J. Parasit. 53, 46–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W. & Jennings, J. B. (1965). Observations on the nutrition of monogenetic trematodes. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 129, 257–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hess, R. & Pearse, A. G. E. (1958). The histochemistry of indoxyl-esterase of rat kidney with special reference to its cathepsin-like activity. Br. J. exp. Path. 39, 292–99.Google Scholar
Holt, S. J. (1958). Studies in enzyme histochemistry. Proc. R. Soc. B 148, 465–532.Google Scholar
Hsü, H. F. (1938). Studies on the food and digestive system of certain parasites. II. On the food of Schistosoma japonicum, Paragonimus ringeri, Dirofilaria immitis, Spirocerca sanguinolenta and Rhabdias sp. Bull. Fan meml Inst. Biol., Zool. Ser. 8, 347–66.Google Scholar
Jennings, J. B. (1959). Studies on digestion in the monogenetic trematode Polystoma integerrimum. J. Helminth. 33, 197–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
La Rue, G. R. (1927). A new species of Strigea from the herring gull. Larus argentatus (Pont.), with remarks on the function of the hold-fast organ. J. Parasit. 13, 226.Google Scholar
Lee, D. L. (1962). Studies on the function of the pseudosuckers and holdfast organ of Diplostomum phoxini Faust (Strigeida, Trematoda). Parasitology 52, 103–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Llewellyn, J. (1954). Observations on the food and gut pigment of the Polyopisthocotylea (Trematoda: Monogenea). Parasitology 44, 428–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mazia, D., Brewer, P. A. & Alfert, M. (1953). The cytochemical staining and measurements of protein with mercuric bromphenol blue. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 104, 57–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, W. (1923). Die Nahrung von Fasciola hepatica und ihre Verdauung. Zool. Anz. 57. 273–81.Google Scholar
Öhman, C. (1965). The structure and function of the adhesive organ in strigeid trematodes. Parasitology 55, 481–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantelouris, E. M. (1965). The Common Liver Fluke. Oxford: Pergamon Press Ltd.Google Scholar
Pantelouris, E. M. & Gresson, R. A. R. (1960). Autoradiographic studies on Fasciola hepatica L. Parasitology 50, 165–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pantelouris, E. M. & Hale, P. A. (1962). Iron and vitamin C in Fasciola hepatica L. Res. vet. Sci. 3, 300–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennoit de Cooman, E. & Grembergen, G. van (1942). Vergelijkend Onderzoek van het Fermentensystem bij vrijlevende en parasitaire Plathelminthen. Versl. Voorst. K. vlaam. Acad. Wet. Belg. 4, 7–77.Google Scholar
Pickworth, F. A. (1934). A new method of study of the brain capillaries and its application to the regional localization of mental disorder. J. Anat. 69, 62–71.Google Scholar
Reznik, G. K. (1963). Histological and histochemical investigations of the alimentary tract of Fasciola hepatica L. and Dicrocoelium lanceatum S. & H. Trudy vses. Inst. Gel'mint. 10, 238–44.Google Scholar
Rogers, W. P. (1940). Haematological studies on the gut contents of certain nematode and trematode parasites. J. Helminth. 18, 53–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sandell, E. B. (1944). Colorimetric Determination of Traces of Metals. New York: Interscience Publishers.Google Scholar
Steedman, H. F. (1950). Alcian Blue 8 G.S. A new stain for mucin. Q. Jl microsc. Sci. 91, 477–9.Google Scholar
Stephenson, W. (1947). Physiological and histochemical observations on the adult liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica L. I. Survival in vitro. Parasitology 38, 116–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szidat, L. (1929). Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Gattung Strigea (Abildg.). Z. ParasitKde. 1, 612–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorsell, W. & Björkman, N. (1965). Morphological and biochemical studies on absorption and secretion in the alimentary tract of Fasciola hepatica L. J. Parasit. 51, 217–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Timms, A. R. & Bueding, E. (1959). Studies of a proteolytic enzyme from Schistosoma mansoni. Br. J. Pharmac. Chemother. 14, 68–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vanha-Perttula, T., Hopsu, V. K., Sonninen, V. & Glenner, G. G. (1965). Cathepsin C activity as related to some histochemical substrates. Histochemie 5, 170–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed