Protothecosis is a severe form of mastitis in cattle that is caused by colorless algae of the genus Prototheca. So far, no suitable serological test for the identification of infected animals is available for routine diagnosis. In this study an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the identification of infected cows and for discriminating among infected cows at various clinica...

The metabolism of Prototheca zopfii was investigated in an attempt to establish the specific function of its growth factor, thiamin. A study of the oxidative decomposition of various substrates by this organism demonstrated that the addition of catalytic amounts of thiamin to vitamin-deficient cells causes a pronounced stimulation in the rate of oxygen utilization during the degradation of cert...

Bovine protothecal mastitis results in considerable economic losses worldwide. However, Prototheca zopfii induced morphological alterations and oxidative stress in bovine mammary epithelial cells (bMECs) is not comprehensively studied yet. Therefore, the aim of this current study was to investigate the P. zopfii induced pathomorphological changes, oxidative stress and apoptosis in bMECs. Oxidat...

The Helicosporidia are invertebrate pathogens that have recently been identified as non-photosynthetic green algae (Chlorophyta). In order to confirm the algal nature of the genus Helicosporidium, the presence of a retained chloroplast genome in Helicosporidia cells was investigated. Fragments homologous to plastid 16S rRNA (rrn16) genes were amplified successfully from cellular DNA extracted f...

The Helicosporidia are invertebrate pathogens that have recently been identified as non-photosynthetic green algae (Chlorophyta). In order to confirm the algal nature of the genus Helicosporidium, the presence of a retained chloroplast genome in Helicosporidia cells was investigated. Fragments homologous to plastid 16S rRNA (rrn16) genes were amplified successfully from cellular DNA extracted f...

When mutant strain UV77-247 of Prototheca moriformis Kruger was fed d-[1-13C]Glc, it synthesized l-ascorbic acid (AA) with approximately three-quarters of the label at the C-1 position and the remaining label at the C-6 position, showing that AA is made by a non-inversion (retention) pathway, i.e. C-1 of Glc becomes C-1 of AA. The label present at C-6 is consistent with the glycolytic conversio...