STUDIES ON "TRYPANOSOMA-(NANNOMONAS)-CONGOLENSE .1. MORPHOLOGICAL APPEARANCE OF PARASITE IN MOUSE

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 35  (4) , 329-337
Abstract
The pleomorphism of bloodstream T. congolense was studied during the course of the 1st parasitemic wave in mice using cloned and uncloned derivatives of 3 recent field isolates. The different morphological types were identified using the criteria described by Godfrey (1960). At any point of parasitemia there were several morphological types of the parasite present, ranging from short to long forms. In the rising phase of parasitemia, the short forms predominated, while at peak parasitemia the parasites were highly pleomorphic, with significant proportions of short and intermediate forms although the long forms predominated. Pleomorphism was observed both in normal and in lethally irradiated (900 R) mice, even when the infection was initiated using a single organism. Such pleomorphism may result from physiological differences between the different forms of this parasite, since these morphological types of T. congolense also differed in their ability to infect a new mammalian host.

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