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Scanning electron microscopic studies ofTrypanosoma cruzi in the rectum of its vectorTriatoma infestans

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Abstract

The cuticular surface of the rectum ofTriatoma infestans and its colonization by aTrypanosoma cruzi strain originating from the same locality as the bugs were studied by scanning electron microscopy at different weeks post infectionem. On the basis of the cuticular folding, the rectum can be subdivided into five regions. The rectal gland has the finest structure and the region anterior to the anus the deepest folds.Try. cruzi always prefers to colonize the rectal gland, while the other regions are colonized in varying densities. Most of the flagellates are epimastigotes (long and short), except in the region at the entrance of the midgut, where trypomastigotes predominate.

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Böker, C.A., Schaub, G.A. Scanning electron microscopic studies ofTrypanosoma cruzi in the rectum of its vectorTriatoma infestans . Z. Parasitenkd. 70, 459–469 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00926686

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