To the Editor: In the article by N.J. Pieniazek and B.L. Herwaldt (1) on the rRNA gene of Cyclospora cayetanensis, the authors suggest that Cyclospora should be placed in the genus Eimeria because the rRNA genes of the two genera have similar sequences. The article refers to Norman D. Levine’s chapter on the Apicomplexa in the Illustrated Guide to the Protozoa (2). Regrettably, the authors fail...

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that is unique in its ability to infect a broad range of birds and mammals, including humans, leading to an extremely high worldwide prevalence and distribution. This work focuses on the environmentally resistant oocyst, which is the product of sexual replication in felids and an important source of human infection. Due to the difficulty i...

From 1990 to 1991, 11 northern flying squirrels, Glaucomys sabrinus, and 30 Townsend's chipmunks, Tamias townsendii, were live-trapped, marked, and released in MacDonald Forest, Benton Co., Oregon and their feces at each capture examined for the presence of coccidian parasites. Two eimerians were found in G. sabrinus: Eimeria dorneyi and a second species we describe here as new. One species, Ei...

Coccidial oocysts morphologically consistent with Eimeria ursini Supperer 1957, and E. tasmaniae Supperer 1957 were recovered from the feces of wild and captive hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons) in Australia. Eimeria arundeli so. n. was recovered from the feces of wild and captive common wombats (Vombatus ursinus). Eimeria arundeli oocysts are ellipsoidal to slightly ovoid 60.2--67.2 ...

Septins are a family of eukaryotic GTP binding proteins conserved from yeasts to humans. Originally identified in mutants of budding yeast, septins participate in diverse cellular functions including cytokinesis, organization of actin networks, cell polarity, vesicle trafficking and many others. Septins assemble into heteroligomers to form filaments and rings. Here, four septins of Schistosoma ...

penetration of the cercaria. It was known for more than ten years by tha name of•gKogan Byo•h(lake side disease) along side Lake Shinji in Shimane Prefecture. According to Tanabe (1951), Cercaria sturniae is the larval form of Giganlobilharzia sturniae Tanabe, 1951, infesting usually in the vein of Sturnia philippensis (Forster) and its first intermediate host being Segmenti na ni ti dell a (Po...

Praziquantel (PZQ) is effective against all the evolutive phases of Schistosoma mansoni. Infected Biomphalaria glabrata snails have their cercarial shedding interrupted when exposed to PZQ. Using primary in vitro transformed sporocysts, labeled with the probe Hoechst 33258 (indicator of membrane integrity), and lectin of Glycine max (specific for carbohydrate of N-acetylgalactosamine membrane),...

To investigate the extent of genetic heterogeneity in the genus Isospora infecting patients in Thailand, a total of 38 fecal samples containing Isospora oocysts from human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients (n = 30), corticosteroid-treated patients (n = 3) and immunocompetent individuals (n = 5) were recruited for analysis. Remarkable variation in the maximum wid...