The chromosome cycle in Coccidia and Gregarines

Abstract

Despite the large amount of work which has already been devoted to the study of the Coccidia and Gregarines, very little indeed is known definitely about the behaviour of the chromosomes in these Protozoa. Not only has the chromosome cycle been left uninvestigated and undescribed in the majority of these organisms which have hitherto been studied, but the very existence of chromosomes in the nuclear divisions at many stages in the life-history of certain forms has even been denied; and the most contradictory and unsatis­factory accounts have been given of that most important phase in the life-cycle of the chromosomes—the phase of meiosis, or reduction. In order to fill up this gap in our knowledge of the Sporozoa, we have made —during the last few years—a very detailed study of the chromosomes of a coccidian and a gregarine. One of us (C. D.) has investigated the coccidian Aggregate eberthi Labbé, whilst the other (A. P. J.) has studied the gregarine Diplocystis schneideri Kunstler. Careful investigation of these two organisms has shown that the nuclear divisions at all stages in the life-histories are mitotic, and that the chromosome numbers are remarkably constant.