| Title | RENAL INFECTION BY A NEW COCCIDIAN GENUS IN BIG BROWN BATS (EPTESICUS FUSCUS). | | Author(s) | Wuenschmann A, Wellehan J, Armien AG, Bemrick W, Barnes D, Averbeck G, Roback R, Schwabenlander M, D'Almeida E, Joki R, Childress A, Cortinas R, Gardiner C, Greiner EC | | Source | J Parasitol 2009 Oct 28.:1. | | Abstract | A novel coccidian parasite from the kidney of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) is described. This coccidian was associated with a generally mild, focal, or multifocal, well demarcated cortical renal lesion, less than 1 mm in diameter. The lesion represented cystic, dilated tubules with hypertrophied tubular epithelial cells and was present in the kidneys of 29 of 590 bats. Numerous coccidian parasites in various stages of development were present within the tubular epithelial cells and within the cyst lumina. Oocysts were collected from cystic dilated tubules. Thin-walled, sporulated ellipsoidal oocysts measuring an average of 18.9 x 20.8 mum were present in kidney tissue. The oocysts contained 2 sporocysts with 4 sporozoites. A polar body and a prominent oocyst residuum were present in the oocysts, but no micropyle, sporocyst residuum, or Stieda bodies were detected. Analysis of the 18S rRNA gene sequence put the parasite in the Sarcocystidae. The parasite is closely related to Besnoitia, Hammondia, Neospora and Toxoplasma. Ultrastructural features such as the presence of an apical complex in merozoites support the identification of a coccidian. A new genus and species, Nephroisospora eptesici, is proposed for this unusual coccidian in which the entire cycle is completed in the kidney of a single host; it has a membrane like oocyst wall, sporogony occurs in the host rather than in the abiotic environment, and the positioning of the parasite by nucleic acid sequence indicates it to be closely allied to Sarcocystis and Besnoitia. | | Language | ENG | | Pub Type(s) | JOURNAL ARTICLE
| | PubMed ID | 19863159 |
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