Abstract
Bonamia ostreae is a protozoan parasite of the flat oyster Ostrea edulis which has caused important losses throughout the world over the last decade. With the aim of studying its life cycle, host-parasite relationships, and infection processes, we carried out an electron microscopic study of branchial epithelium and hemocytes of infected oysters from Galicia (NW Spain). Parasites apparently undergoing mitosis were observed both in cells of the branchial epithelium and in hemocytes, with microtubule-containing nuclei in both cases being visible in longitudinal and transverse sections. On the basis of our observations we propose a life cycle for this parasite which includes both intraepithelial and hemocytic phases of proliferation by binary fission and eventual destruction of the cells releasing Bonamia to reinitiate infection of new cells or individuals.
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