Different motility modes in marine gregarines representing the early emerging group of Apicomplexa
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The motility of apicomplexan invasive stages (zoites), facilitated by a mechanism of substrate-dependent gliding, was investigated in important human pathogens as an essential mechanism for parasites’ migration and host cell invasion. Gregarines represent a diversified group of ancestral apicomplexans, with diverse host-parasite interactions and modes of locomotion, mechanism of which differs from apicomplexans zoites. In our research, the so called pendular or rolling movement in archigregarine Selenidium sp. was investigated after the application of drugs inducing assembly or disassembly of actin filaments (jasplakinolide, cytochalasin D) and depolymerisation of microtubules (oryzalin, colchicine). Our study confirms the influence of microtubules depolymerising drugs on Selenidium sp. motility. Despite the evidence that movement was blocked, experiments also revealed prolonged survival (90 min - 9 h) of gregarines in extremely high doses (10 micro M - 100 mM) of these probes. In SEM observation no superficial changes of Selenidium sp. surface were observed, while the evident changes in distribution of cytoskeletal proteins after CLSM analysis were documented. Moreover, the influence of changed ions concentration in artificial sea water on archigregarine (Selenidium sp.) and eugregarine (Polyrhabdina sp.) motility was investigated. Further experiments were performed with changed concentration of ions: Na+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+. Motility index was calculated in set time intervals for both species. Although no significant changes in gregarines’ survival and motility were observed under the light microscope, gregarines were fixed for ultrastructural analysis (TEM). Furthermore, the gliding motility was studied in marine eugregarine Cephaloidophora cf. communis. The unusually active and variable modes of motility (e.g. jumping and rotational movements with rapid changes in the gliding direction and cell flexions) are facilitated by architecture of parasite epicytic folds. |
| Related projects: |