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Ultrastructure of the vitellarium in the digeneans Phyllodistomum angulatum (Plagiorchiida, Gorgoderidae) and Azygia lucii (Strigeida, Azygiidae)

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Abstract

Fine structural features of the vitellarium of two digeneans, Phyllodistomum angulatum and Azygia lucii, are documented and compared with those of other digenean species. The cytodifferentiation of immature vitelline cells (vitellocytes) assumes the production and subsequent accumulation in their cytoplasm of several inclusions. Mature vitelline cells of P. angulatum are characterized by the presence of vitelline clusters (∼2.7 μm in diameter, with ∼100 vitelline globules of ∼0.35 μm in diameter) and osmiophobic, saturated lipid droplets (∼2-3 μm in diameter), and in A. lucii vitelline clusters of the same diameter include much fewer vitelline globules (∼50 globules of ∼0.5 μm in diameter), osmiophilic lipid droplets and α-glycogen. In both P. angulatum and A. lucii, interstitial cells are also present within the vitellarium. Two types of contact sites (septate and tight junctions) between adjoining interstitial cells also occur in both digenean species. Judging from the present and previous ultrastructural studies, it is suggested that there are three potential discriminatory characters of the digenean vitellarium (the number of different types of cell components within the vitellarium, the presence and type of junctional complexes between these cells, and the isolation of the vitellarium from the surrounding tissue) which may prove useful for a better understanding of the biology and evolutionary history of the different digenean groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. I.D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, 152742, Borok, Yaroslavl Province, Russia

    Larisa G. Poddubnaya

  2. Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001, Košice, Hlinkova 3, Slovak Republic

    Magdaléna Bruňanská

  3. W. Stefański Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland

    Zdzisław Świderski

  4. Department of General Biology and Parasitology, Medical University of Warsaw, 5 Chałubińskiego Street, Warsaw, Poland

    Zdzisław Świderski

  5. Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    David I. Gibson

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  1. Larisa G. Poddubnaya
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  2. Magdaléna Bruňanská
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  3. Zdzisław Świderski
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  4. David I. Gibson
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Correspondence to Larisa G. Poddubnaya.

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Poddubnaya, L.G., Bruňanská, M., Świderski, Z. et al. Ultrastructure of the vitellarium in the digeneans Phyllodistomum angulatum (Plagiorchiida, Gorgoderidae) and Azygia lucii (Strigeida, Azygiidae). Acta Parasit. 57, 235–246 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11686-012-0030-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11686-012-0030-9

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