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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #271582
Title: Chapter 5: Microsporidia

Author
item DIDIER, ELIZABETH - Tulane University
item Becnel, James
item KENT, MICHAEL - Oregon State University
item SANDERS, JUSTIN - Oregon State University
item WEISS, LOUIS - Albert Einstein College Of Medicine

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2013
Publication Date: 1/1/2014
Citation: Didier, E.S., Becnel, J.J., Kent, M.L., Sanders, J., Weiss, L.M. 2014. Chapter 5: Microsporidia. Book Chapter. pg.115-114.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The phylum Microsporidia comprises an interesting group of intracellular fungal parasites that infect vertebrate and invertebrate hosts of commercial and medical significance. Microsporidia are unique for their mode infection whereby the cytoplasm spore content are propelled through an inverting polar filament and injected into the host cell. Believed to branch among the earliest eukaryotes, microsporidia are now considered more highly-evolved for exhibiting gene reduction and compacttion that also are signs of extreme parasite efficiency. This chapter highlights the unusual mechanism of infection and currect classification of the microsporidia as well as describes the morphology, life cycle, and culture of microsporidia species of importance to arthropod, aquic, and mamalian hosts.