The ultrastructure of some endogenous stages of the coccidian Eimeria boveroi Carini & Pinto, 1926 in the gut epithelial cells of the gecko Hemidactylus mabouia from Brazil

Abstract

The ultrastructure of intracytoplasmic meronts and macrogamonts of Eimeria s.l. boveroi in the small intestine of the gekkonid lizard Hemidoctylus mabouia from Belem, Para north Brazil is described. Young meronts, and some of the fully grown macrogamonts, are coated with a glycocalyx which, in cross-section, has the appearance of a series of fine tubules. The wall of the parasitophorous vacuole (PV) is a single membrane, lined on the host-cytoplasm side with an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) which sometimes expands into large cisternae filled with electron-lucent, globular material. The membranal edges of the ER, canaliculi and cisternae have regularly spaced indentations filled with an electron-dense substance. Vesicular mitochondria are present in addition to those of the conventional type. Macrogamonts develop the characteristic type 1 and type 2 wall-forming bodies, and in some zygotes the cisternae containing the latter are grossly expanded. Both types of wall-forming bodies persist in young oocysts that have a distinct oocyst wall.