Abstract
Blastocystis spp. are common human enteric parasites with complex morphology and have been reported to cause irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Deconvolutional microscopy with time-lapse imaging and fluorescent spectroscopy of xenic cultures of Blastocystis spp. from stool samples of IBS patients and from asymptomatic, healthy pigs allowed observations of living organisms in their natural microbial environment. Blastocystis organisms of the vacuolated, granular, amoebic and cystic forms were observed to autofluorescence in the 557/576 emission spectra. Autofluorescence could be distinguished from fluorescein-conjugated Blastocystis-specific antibody labelling in vacuolated and granular forms. This antibody labelled Blastocystis subtypes 1, 3 and 4 but not 5. Surface pores of 1 μm in diameter were observed cyclically opening and closing over 24 h. Vacuolated forms extruded a viscous material from a single surface point with coincident deflation that may demonstrate osmoregulation. Tear-shaped granules were observed exiting from the surface of an amoebic form, but their origin and identity remain unknown.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00436-015-4540-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Blastocystis spp. are common enteric, unicellular parasites found in almost every species of animal (Tan 2008)
Fluorescent spectrometry revealed that Blastocystis cells exhibit green autofluorescence in common with many other microalgae
green autofluorescence (GAF) was able to be distinguished from fluorescein-specific Blastocystis antibody labelling in VF and GF but not cysts
Summary
Blastocystis spp. are common enteric, unicellular parasites found in almost every species of animal (Tan 2008). Seventeen different subtypes (STs) defined by the 18SSU of the ribosomal RNA gene are recognised, and ST3 is almost universally the most common of the nine STs found in humans (Stensvold 2012). Many healthy people carry Blastocystis sp., and it remains unclear if the parasite is pathogenic. Pathogenicity has been speculated to relate to parasite subtypes (Eroglu and Koltas 2010; Tan et al 2006) as well as to the host’s immune response (OlivoDiaz et al 2012). A lack of knowledge of the basic life cycle and metabolic function of the parasite remains a major limitation to exploiting the use of animal models and in vitro systems to further explore the clinical significance and therapeutic options for the control of this organism
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