The ultrastructural changes of Sarcocystis ovifelis infested sheep tongue myofibrils
Radchenko, A.I.; Beĭer, T.V.
Tsitologiia 48(8): 669-673
2006
ISSN/ISBN: 0041-3771 PMID: 17147259 Document Number: 600171
Structural changes were observed in filaments of Sarcocystis ovifelis infected sheep tongue myofibrils. In sarcocysts containing myofibrils, actin filaments and Z-disks, myosin filaments and M-line were destroyed. Protein bridges, uniting actin and myosin filaments into a joint complex (net), disappeared and as a result separate Z-disks and free filaments appeared. Fibrils, referred to as leptomeric, were first revealed between protrusions of the sarcocyst surface apparatus. These are striated filaments with periodic 100 nm striations of dark and light bands, made of thin and short 120-200 nm long filaments 5 nm in diameter. The genesis of leptomeric fibrils remains obscure. In sarcocyst-infected myofibrils these may be involved in metabolite transportation to and from the intercellular space.