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The structure and development of Histomonas meleagridis (Mastigamoebidae: Protozoa) in the female reproductive tract of its intermediate host, Heterakis gallinarum (Nematoda)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

D. L. Lee
D. L. Lee
Affiliation:
Houghton Poultry Research Station, Houghton, Huntingdon
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Extract

The ultrastrcuture and development of the protozoan Histomonas meleagridis in the reproductive system of the female nematode, Heterakis gallinarum, have been described. It has been shown that there is a distinct cycle of events in the reproductive system. The stage of Histomonas in the germinal zone of the ovary is extracellular; the protozoan feeds and multiplies here. The histomonads move down the ovary with the oogonia and become intracellular when they penetrate the developing oocytes in the growth zone of the ovary. This is apparently an active penetration of the oocyte by the parasite. Feeding and division of the histomonad occurs in the oocyte and also in the newly formed egg; apparently a gradual reduction in size occurs along the reproductive system. These stages in the parasite are similar to the tissue-inhabiting stages in the bird but are much smaller. There are no mitochondria present.

There is strong circumstantial evidence that the nematode is able to repair damage to the wall of the reproductive system and to the oolemma caused by the protozoan.

I wish to thank Dr E. E. Lund of Beltsville Parasitological Laboratory, Maryland, U.S.A., who very kindly sent me some of his Histomonas-free strain of Heterakis and Dr L. P. Joyner and Mr C. C. Norton of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, for the strain of Heterakis which was found to transmit Histomonas wenrichii. I also wish to thank Mrs B. Fisher, Mr B. Millard and Mr M. Shirley for technical assistance and Mr P. Rogers for assistance with the photography.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , November 1969 , pp. 877 - 884
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1969

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References

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