Schistosoma: Integument/Surface Coat

The surface of the blood fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, has been analyzed very intensively in the past few years in order to find antigens for vaccination against this important parasite of man in the tropics (Platyhelminthes/Integument). As in all digenea, all larval stages seem to have a surface coat containing proteoglycans (Fig. 1). In the miracidium even the cilia are covered by a surface coat. Mother sporocysts of Schistosoma mansoni (like those of Fasciola hepatica ) show an amplification of the surface area by a mixture of branching folds and microvilli. They are covered by a fuzzy surface coat. Vesicles at the base of the microvilli suggest the occurrence of endocytosis. Rediae also have a surface coat. Although there is evidence that they are able to take up nutrients through the mouth into the small digestive system, absorption of nutrients by endocytosis through the tegument has been observed for glucose, a polysaccharide, and amino acids.

Schistosoma: Integument/Surface Coat,...