Changes in the ultrastructure of salivary gland cytoplasm in Sciara ocellaris (Comstock, 1882) due to microsporidian infection

• Published in: Journal of insect physiology Vol. 13; no. 5; pp. 795,IN5,799 - 798,IN11,803
• Main Authors: Jurand, A., Simões, L.C.G., Pavan, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.01.1967
• ISSN: 0022-1910; 1879-1611
• DOI: 10.1016/0022-1910(67)90127-8

The effects of infection by a microsporidian, Thelohania sp., on the ultrastructure of the cytoplasm of salivary gland cells in Sciara ocellaris were investigated. Cytoplasm of uninfected cells contains a dense ribosomal population studding large condensations of lamellar and vesicular endoplasmic reticulum, numerous scattered Golgi areas, and typical metazoan mitochondria. In infected cells of salivary glands the ultrastructural integrity of the cytoplasm is profoundly changed due to depletion of ribosomes, disarrangement of endoplasmic reticulum, and to decrease in size and increase in number of mitochondria. The overall electron opacity of the infected cytoplasm is decreased due to a decrease in ribosomal population and to formation of cytoplasmic vacuoles. The implications of the various features observed in both normal and infected cells are discussed, and possible suggestions are made regarding alteration of the metabolic functions due to infection.