Journal of Bacteriology & Parasitology

Abstract

Morphological and Ultrastructural of a New Species from Cephaline Gregarinidae Infected Fruit Egyptian Bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) and its Vector

Barakat Shehata Abd El Maleck, Gamal Hassan Abed, Nwal Maze and Refaat Khalifa

Out of 179 fruit bats Rousettus aegyptiacus examined, only 30 (16.8%) were found to be infected with a new species of Cephaline gregarines. Impression smears from the intestine and blood smears of the infected bats showed different shapes of trophozoites and solitary bottle-like gamonts. Semithin sections of the intestinal tract from the infected bats showed different developmental stages of trophozoites and gamonts scattered in the gut lumen and in gut epithelium. On the other side, also gamonts were detected in the insect vector, Polyplax brachyrrhyncha, infesting fruit bats. On one hand, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that, the fully developed trophozoite was consists of thee merits, on the other hand, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed the conical-shaped epimerite was attached to the intestinal epithelium of the host, as well as the gametocyst in the gut lumen and gamonts in caudofrontal syzygy, the associates resembled each other in shape but different in size.