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The alimentary canal of Blomia tropicalis (Acari: Astigmata: Echymopodidae): the application of three-dimensional reconstruction technology

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Abstract

The domestic mite species Blomia tropicalis is an important indoor allergen source related to asthma and other allergic diseases in tropical and subtropical regions. Here, we describe the alimentary canal of B. tropicalis with the particular application of three-dimensional reconstruction technology. The alimentary canal of B. tropicalis resembles the typical acarid form consisting of the cuticle-lined foregut and hindgut separated by a cuticle-free midgut. The foregut is divided into a muscular pharynx and an esophagus. The midgut is composed of a central ventriculus, two lateral caeca, a globular colon and a postcolon with two tubiform postcolonic diverticula. The most common cells forming the epithelium of ventriculus and caeca are squamous and cuboidal. The globular cells contain a big central vacuole in the posterior region of the caeca. The epithelium of the colon and postcolon has significantly longer microvilli. The anal atrium is a simple tube with flattened epithelial cells. The spatial measurements of the three-dimensional model suggest that the paired caeca and central ventriculus occupy 55.1 and 34.6%, respectively, of the total volume of the alimentary canal and may play the key role in food digestion.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank colleagues at the Institute of Allergy and Immunology, Shenzhen University, for their assistance in mite specimen preparation. This study was supported by the Foundation of the National 863 High Technology Program of China (No. 2002AA214011, 2006AA02A231), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30471505, 30271226, 30760082), Guangdong–Hongkong joint breakthrough program in key areas (No. 20054982207), the Special Major Program of Science and Technology of Guangdong province (No. 2003 C104019), and the Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Planning Project (No. 200218, 200630).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Allergy and Immunology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

    Jie Wu, Fengwei Yang & Zhigang Liu

  2. The State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou, China

    Jie Wu & Pixin Ran

  3. Shanghai Entomological Museum, Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jie Wu

  4. Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China

    Guihua Wu

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  1. Jie Wu
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  2. Fengwei Yang
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  3. Zhigang Liu
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  4. Guihua Wu
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  5. Pixin Ran
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhigang Liu.

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J. Wu and F. Yang contributed equally.

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Wu, J., Yang, F., Liu, Z. et al. The alimentary canal of Blomia tropicalis (Acari: Astigmata: Echymopodidae): the application of three-dimensional reconstruction technology. Exp Appl Acarol 47, 215–224 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-008-9208-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-008-9208-0

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