Abstract
Larvae ofAcricotopus lucidus (Diptera, Chironomidae) were successfully infected withNosema algerae (Microsporidia, Nosematidae). Treatment ofnewly hatched larvae with 2–3×105 spores/ml produced a 59.7%–83.8% rate of microsporidia-infected animals within 6 weeks. One of the host tissues infected was the polytene salivary gland; 31.3%–35.3% of the larvae showed infections in the gland cells. This made it possible to investigate the reaction of the puffing pattern of the polytene host-cell chromosomes to the presence of an intracellular parsite. In slightly or moderately infected salivary gland cells, no change in the regular puffing patterns was observed. Only in heavily infected cells did an inactivation of cell-type-specific Balbiani rings and puffs occur, resulting in a change in the cell-type-specific genetic programme.
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Staiber, W. Effects ofNosema algerae infections on the gene activity of the salivary gland chromosomes ofAcricotopus lucidus (Diptera, Chironomidae). Parasitol Res 80, 108–111 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00933776
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00933776