Ultrastructural Comparison of Promastigote Flagellates (Leptomonads) of Wild-Caught Panamanian Phlebotomus

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Abstract
The electron-dense DNA in the kinetoplast of Leishmania is in the form of a narrow band of rather uniform anteroposteriorly directed fibers. In one strain of flagellates isolated from Phlebotomus sanguinarius in Panama the DNA of the kinetoplast appeared in irregular anteroposteriorly directed fibers and masses after OsO4 fixation. After Ryter-Kellenberger fixation the DNA appeared as very fine fibrils that filled the kinetoplast. Because of this difference, as well as differences in gross morphology and in growth pattern in the sandfly host it is concluded that this strain is not Leishmania but is probably Crithidia sp.