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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306607
Title: Developmental biology of Cystoisospora (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) monozoic tissue cysts

Author
item LINDSAY, DAVID - Virginia-Maryland Regional College Of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM)
item HOUK, ALICE - Virginia-Maryland Regional College Of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM)
item MITCHEL, SHEILA - Virginia-Maryland Regional College Of Veterinary Medicine (VMRCVM)
item Dubey, Jitender

Submitted to: Journal of Parasitology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/24/2014
Publication Date: 8/1/2014
Citation: Lindsay, D., Houk, A., Mitchel, S., Dubey, J.P. 2014. Developmental biology of Cystoisospora (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) monozoic tissue cysts. Journal of Parasitology. 100:392-398.

Interpretive Summary: Toxoplasma, Neospora, Cystoisospora, Sarcocystis are related single celled parasites that cause economic economic losses to farmers and some of these also are of food safety concern. The food safety issues with Toxoplasma and Sarcocystis are well known but little is known of the food safety issues with other coccidian parasites. In the present paper authors review the history and present evidence that members of the genus Cystoisopora, once considered host specific, are now widely distributed and have a wide host range. These findings will be of interest to parasitologists and biologists.

Technical Abstract: Tissue cyst stages are an intriguing aspect of the developmental cycle and transmission of members of the Family Sarcocystidae. Tissue cyst stages of the genera Toxoplasma, Hammondia, Neospora, Besnoitia, and Sarcocystis contain many infectious stages (bradyzoites).The tissue cyst stage of Cystoisospora (syn. Isospora) contain only 1 infectious stage (zoite) and the tissue cyst is referred to as a monozoic tissue cyst (MZTC) to reflect the presence of only 1 infectious stage. No tissue cyst stages are presently known for members of the genus Nephroisospora. The present report examines the developmental biology of MZTC stages of the genus Cystoisospora Frenkel, 1977. These parasites cause intestinal coccidiosis in cats, dogs, pigs, and humans. The MZTC stages of C. belli are believed to be associated with re-occurrence of clinical disease in humans.