An Ultrastructural Study of the Extruded Polar Tube of Anncaliia algerae (Microsporidia).

ABSTRACT: All microsporidia share a unique, extracellular spore stage, containing the infective sporoplasm and the apparatus for initiating infection. The polar filament/polar tube when exiting the spore transports the sporoplasm through it into a host cell. While universal, these structures and processes have been enigmatic. This study utilized several types of microscopy, describing and extending our understanding of these structures and their functions. Cryogenically preserved polar tubes vary in diameter from 155 to over 200 nm, noticeably larger than fixed-sectioned or negatively stained samples. The polar tube surface is pleated and covered with fine fibrillar material that projects from the surface and is organized in clusters or tufts. These fibrils may be the sites of glycoproteins providin

SUBMITTER: Takvorian PM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6944765 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature