Differences in the occurrence of monogeneans on lamellae of fish gill arches were observed in this study. These differences were attributed to variations in water current on the gill surfaces or to greater area of certain arches. Two computer simulation programs based on gill area and water current were written to generate parasite melapopulations with clumped patterns. The results obtained were compared with true distributions of selected freshwater monogenean taxa. The combination of both theoretical models (gill area and water current) had greater explanatory power than either of the models alone.
he surface proteins of trophic (vacuolar and ameboid forms) and cyst forms of two axcnic Blastocystis hominis Brumpt, 1912 isolates were studied. The surface proteins of both forms were biotin-labeled and the soluble proteins from unlabeied and biolin-labcled cells were clcctrophoresed in 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gels under reducing conditions. The clcctrophoresed proteins from biolinylated cells were transferred to nitrocellulose membranes and the avidin-peroxidase-labeled complex was used to identify the surface proteins. In trophic forms, 26 of the 38 soluble proteins, with MW ranging between 30 and >200 kDa, were identified as surface proteins. In cyst forms, 15 of Ihe 29 soluble proteins, with MW ranging between 30 and 193 kDa, were considered as located on the surface of cysts. The comparative analysis of surface protein profiles of both forms showed the presence of a common pattern, composed of 13 bands, and the characteristic proteins of trophic (36, 44, 46, 51, 70, 74, 76, 92, 98, 101, 166, 176 and >200 kDa) and cyst forms (42 and 193 kDa).
Cryptosporidium parvum, the protozoan responsible for cryptosporidiosis, continues to defy eradication with existing therapies. A review of the anticryptosporidial activity of several drugs in the dexamethasone-immunosuppressed rat model illustrates the multitude of factors that may contribute to the difficulty of assessing a drug’s therapeutic efficacy against the protozoan and provides possible explanation for drug failure at the level of host-parasite interaction.