The distribution of Tetrahymena limacis in its natural host Deroceras reticulatum, and the tissue responses to infection are described. Contrary to previous observations, T. limacis occurred throughout the tissues and organs of its host; the organisms were especially numerous in the kidney, the mantle shield, and in grossly visible papules on the external epithelium. Aspirates from such papules yielded numerous ciliates.

T. limacis elicited a considerable pathologic response and appeared to contribute to an increase in morbidity and mortality among slugs. Tissue responses were focal (fibrotic encapsulation of isolated organisms) and diffuse (necrosis, mechanical tissue destruction, and metaplasia). Efforts to establish infection in seven species of molluscs other than D. reticulatum were unsuccessful.

An extramolluscan cyst stage of T. limacis is reported for the first time. Both resting and reproductive cysts were observed. Since free-swimming trophozoites of T. limacis are not long lived, the organism is more likely an obligate rather than a facultative parasite of molluscs. Observations also suggest that slugs are infected via the respiratory pore rather than orally.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the aid and counsel given by Dr J. O. Corliss in identifying the ciliate and to Miss Lorin DuBois for technical assistance.

African representatives in the family Microphallidae (Trematoda) are recorded, and descriptions of five new species are given. Collections made on the Kenya coast showed: (Aves) Crocethia alba infected with Microphallus kenyensis sp.nov.; Encocotyle africanus sp.nov., and Maritrema sethsmithi sp.nov.; Tringa hypoleucos and Numenius phaeopus infected with Diacetabulum curvicolon Belopolskaia, 1952; (Reptilia, Scincidae) Ablepharus boutonii africanus infected with Levinseniella heardi sp.nov., Maritrema sethsmithi sp.nov. and Maritreminoides ablephari sp.nov.

Patti Hirst and Alma Smith assisted with preparation of the plates. R. W. Heard III and S. Deblock loaned material and made helpful comments on the reproductive structures in the genus Levenseniella.

Curie-point pyrolysis gas-liquid chromatography (PGLC) was used to detect gross chemical differences between the 8 European pathotypes of the potato cyst nematodes Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida. No qualitative differences were seen with either flame ionization or flame photometric detection systems, although quantitative differences between pathotypes were detected. Cluster analysis of these differences failed to group the pathotypes into species, but separation of some economically important pathotypes was achieved. The potential of PGLC for nematode identification is discussed.

The capillariid nematodes present in avian hosts collected in Palawan and Borneo are recorded and described. Three new species are established, Capillaria javanensis from Dinopium javanense everetti, Drycopus javanensis hargitti, Mei-glyptes tukki tukki and Megalaima chrysopogon chrysopsis, Capillaria pitti from Pitta sordida sordida, Copyschus niger niger, Copyschus saularis and Chalcophaps indica indica, and Capillaria anthracocerosi from Anthracoceros marchei. Capillaria tridens and C. madseni are recorded from new hosts.

We wish to acknowledge the field support by Dr D. S. Rabor, Department of Biology, Silliman University, Damaguete City, Negros Oriental, Republic of the Philippines, and the technicians of the Parasitology Department of Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2 for general assistance in procurement and examination of hosts. The authors are indebted to Messrs H. G. Deignan (deceased) and George Watson, U.S. National Museum, Washington, D.C., as well as to Dr Rabor for identification of hosts. Dr B. J. Myers assisted with the initial handling of the spe

Initial work for this study was supported by funding under Public Law 480, Section 104(c), by funds provided by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Navy Department Work Unit MR 005.20–0098, by contract no. NR 103–690/N 0014–66–C 0094, between the Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy and the Southwest Foundation for Research and Education, and grant no. 5 P01-GM-13252–02 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, DHEW. Final efforts were sponsored by the Department of the Army, contract no. DADA 17–68-C-8094.

Ectoparasite-free, SPF Italian Wistar rats were consistently found to carry a latent infection with Haemobartonella muris, activable by splen ectomy. In an inbred line this diminished and eventually ceased in six generations. Experimental infection from wild rats demonstrated that this was not apparently due to immunity.

Experiments to investigate the linked metabolism of L-serine and L-alanine by Moniliformis moniliformis in vitro were carried out by incubating adult worms aerobically for 3 h at 37 °C in Tyrode’s solution containing L-[U-14C]alanine and other amino acids. When present in the medium alone, alanine was totally removed by the worms and metabolized almost entirely to ethanol and a compound identified as carbon dioxide. When present in the medium with serine and no other amino acids, alanine was largely metabolized as before but additional alanine, believed to originate from serine, was excreted. The same results were obtained with serine and 16 other amino acids in the incubation medium.

This study aimed to investigate myocardial injuries in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni and fed a high-fat chow. Sections of myocardial tissue from S. mansoni-infected mice, and controls that had been killed 9 and 17 weeks post-infection, were stained with H&E and Picrosirius red. Histopathological examination, stereological design-based method (optical disector) and morphometry (vessels, cardiomyocytes and an amount of collagen) were used. Data were analysed using two-way ANOVA. Regardless of time of infection, myocardial tissue from the infected mice fed high-fat chow showed myocarditis characterized by a higher number of inflammatory foci, several areas displaying coagulation of cardiac fibres, a greater loss of cardiomyocytes and fibroblast proliferation than in the standard chow control. Comparing infected mice from acute and chronic infections, a higher cardiomyocyte hyperplasia (P < 0·0001) and higher amounts of collagen (P < 0·05) were observed than in standard chow control. In addition, all animals fed high-fat chow showed lower numerical density and total number of cardiomyocytes (P < 0·05), thicker vessel walls and narrowed luminal intramyocardial vessels (P > 0·05) than in the standard chow control. Altogether the data supported the view that a double burden has a synergistic deleterious effect on the myocardial tissue.

Brugia malayi is one of the parasitic worms which causes lymphatic filariasis in humans. Its geographical distribution includes a large part of Asia. Despite its wide distribution, very little is known about the genetic variation and molecular epidemiology of this species. In this study, the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) nucleotide sequences of B. malayi from microfilaria-positive human blood samples in Northeast Borneo Island were determined, and compared with published ITS1 sequences of B. malayi isolated from cats and humans in Thailand. Multiple alignment analysis revealed that B. malayi ITS1 sequences from Northeast Borneo were more similar to each other than to those from Thailand. Phylogenetic trees inferred using Neighbour-Joining and Maximum Parsimony methods showed similar topology, with 2 distinct B. malayi clusters. The first cluster consisted of Northeast Borneo B. malayi isolates, whereas the second consisted of the Thailand isolates. The findings of this study suggest that B. malayi in Borneo Island has diverged significantly from those of mainland Asia, and this has implications for the diagnosis of B. malayi infection across the region using ITS1-based molecular techniques.

Parasite burden varies widely between individuals within a population, and can covary with multiple aspects of individual phenotype. Here we investigate the sources of variation in faecal strongyle eggs counts, and its association with body weight and a suite of haematological measures, in a cohort of indigenous zebu calves in Western Kenya, using relatedness matrices reconstructed from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes. Strongyle egg count was heritable (h2 = 23·9%, s.e. = 11·8%) and we also found heritability of white blood cell counts (WBC) (h2 = 27·6%, s.e. = 10·6%). All the traits investigated showed negative phenotypic covariances with strongyle egg count throughout the first year: high worm counts were associated with low values of WBC, red blood cell count, total serum protein and absolute eosinophil count. Furthermore, calf body weight at 1 week old was a significant predictor of strongyle EPG at 16–51 weeks, with smaller calves having a higher strongyle egg count later in life. Our results indicate a genetic basis to strongyle EPG in this population, and also reveal consistently strong negative associations between strongyle infection and other important aspects of the multivariate phenotype.

There is great heterogeneity in parasite communities among hosts, understanding the nature and drivers of such variations is still a great scientific quest. Here, we analyse the variation in parasite communities by addressing the following questions: (i) What is the beta-diversity component (nestedness or turnover) that most contributes to beta diversity in parasite communities among anuran species? (ii) Does the beta diversity of parasite communities follow a non-random pattern? (iii) Is the dissimilarity in composition of parasite communities related to the phylogenetic or functional dissimilarity among hosts? We found that turnover in parasite assemblages was the main component of beta diversity, but the variation observed both in the total beta diversity and in its components did not differ from the respective null models. The dissimilarity among parasite communities was not related to the phylogenetic species variability or functional dissimilarity among anuran species for most localities. In short, our findings may indicate a process of resource tracking by the parasite species, in which the resource may not necessarily be conserved phylogenetically in their hosts.

To date no experimental infection studies have been conducted in laboratory mice using Mus spp. bartonella strains. Therefore we designed a study to evaluate the in vivo infection characteristics of 2 Bartonella tribocorum strains from wild Mus spp. in laboratory mice with the aim of developing a mouse model that reproduces characteristics of naturally acquired bartonella infections in rodents. Groups of outbred CD1 female mice were subcutaneously inoculated with low doses of 2 mouse bartonella strains (10, 100, and 1000 bacteria/mouse). Blood was collected weekly for 27 weeks to evaluate bacteraemia kinetics in infected mice. Mouse urine collected during weeks 3–6 post-inoculation was also tested for viable bacteria to determine whether urine might serve as a source of bacterial transmission. Mice were susceptible to infection with both strains. Bacteraemias in mice lasted up to 25 weeks, sometimes with abacteraemic intervals, and achieved levels up to 107 cfu/ml of blood. Temporal lags in bacteraemia onset of up to 19 weeks in length were noted at different inoculum doses. No viable bacteria were detected in mouse urine. Bacteraemic mice displayed characteristics of infection similar to those observed in natural rodent hosts during longitudinal field studies. This mouse model of persistent bacteraemia should be suitable for a variety of experimental uses.

Experiments were conducted in guinea-pigs to elucidate the parameters affecting the development of protective immunity against Schistosoma japonicum induced by a cryopreserved, irradiated schistosomula vaccine such as the number of immunizations, route of injection and the use of adjuvants. Results obtained indicated that the cryopreserved, irradiated schistosomula vaccine was effective by either intradermal or intramuscular injection. One intradermal injection with BCG adjuvant resulted in an average worm reduction of 50·24%, only a little lower than that of a non-cryopreserved, irradiated vaccine, 53·55%, with no statistically significant difference between the two. By intramuscular injection the worm reduction was lower (max. 40%) whether given with or without adjuvants or in 1 or 2 injections.

In a recent issue of Parasitology, I have described (Jain, 1959) a new genus of freshwater Tetraonchinae, Sprostonia, from the gill filaments of some Indian fishes. In a personal communication Dr Nora G. Sproston has kindly pointed out to me that the same name has been used by Bychowsky in his monograph on Monogenea (1957), published by the Institute of the Zoological Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., for Sprostonia squatinae (MacCallum, 1921) which he makes genotype and removes it from Trochopodinae to a new subfamily Megalocotylinae in Capsalidae. I therefore change the name of the genus which I have described to Neosprostonia, Sprostonia being preoccupied.

A description is given of two new Cephaline gregarines from Indian crickets collected at Lucknow and Jalaun, United Provinces.

One of these, Stenophora gryllodes-sigillatae sp.nov., from the gut of Gryllodes sigillatus, has solitary slender trophozoites up to 194μ long. Its epimerite is rounded in young forms and absent or represented by its remnant in adults. The nucleus has two chromosomes. Cysts are rounded, invested in a very thin membrane and without sporoducts.

The second, Bulbocephalus indicus sp.nov., from the gut of Liogryllus bimaculatus, is characterized by solitary elongated sporadins; the neck is short and a bulbous epimerite is always present. The body, measuring up to 175μ in length and up to 30μ in breadth, presents a striated appearance. Cysts are oval, covered by a very thin membrane, and have no sporoducts.

The author is very grateful to Dr S. M. Das, under whose able guidance this work was carried out. His thanks are also due to the Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow, for providing the laboratory facilities.