Computer Aided Three-dimensional Reconstruction of the Free living Protozoan Bodo sp. (Kinetoplastida: Bodonidae).

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Computer aided three-dimensional (3-D) reconstructions of Bodo sp., a free-living kinetoplastid, were made from ultrathin (100 nm) and semithin (200 nm) serial sections, which were observed by transmission electron microscopy. Organelles and membrane systems were digitized into a computerand three-dimensional images were generated using the SYNUsoftware package. It was observed that the internal disposition of structures like the contractile vacuole, the Golgi complex, the mitochondrion, and the nucleus maintain a constant relationship relative to each other and to the cytostome and flagellar pocket. The Golgi complex and the contractile vacuole elements are not apparently connected. The contractile vacuole fills a significant volumein the cell. Volumealterations occurring during systole/diastole cycles of the contractile vacuole are compensated by cytoskeletal adaptations. There is a subpellicular microtubule-free area adjacent to the contractile vacuole. Morphological evidence indicates that the flagellar pocket may not be the only site of vacuolar content elimination. A better view of the cytoskeleton was obtained in detergent-extracted cells, where a set of curved microtubules was observed separating the flagellar pocket from the cytostome and surrounding the cytopharynx.

A Functional Aquaporin Co-Localizes with the Vacuolar Proton Pyrophosphatase to Acidocalcisomes and the Contractile Vacuole Complex of Trypanosoma cruzi

“…6, A-D). These structures closely matched the descriptions of the contractile vacuole fine structure in the trypanosomatids Leptomonas collosoma (10) and Bodo sp. (11), as well as descriptions from other non-trypanosomatid organisms (39 -41).…”

“…Labeling with Antibodies Against Aquaporin-Acidocalcisomes have been linked to the function of a contractile vacuole complex in C. reinhardtii (3) and D. discoideum (4) and the presence of a contractile vacuole complex has been reported in different trypanosomatids (10,11), including T. cruzi (9). However, there has been only occasional mention of this structure (37) even though extensive electron microscopy studies have been done in T. cruzi.…”

“…The pulsation period was found to be between 1 min and 1 min and 15 s (8). Electron micrographs of the contractile vacuole and surrounding spongiome of other trypanosomatids have also been published (9,10).…”

Dynamics of polymorphism of acidocalcisomes in Leishmania parasites

“…For serial sectioning, blocks of cells prepared using glutaraldehyde/ tannic acid fixation were trimmed and sectioned as described before (Fahrenbach 1984;Attias et al 1996). Serial micrographs were printed at a final magnification of 26,000 diameters.…”

The three-dimensional structure of the cytostome-cytopharinx complex of Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes

“…The participation of microtubules in the structuring of the cytostome-cytopharynx complex is a hallmark of trypanosomatids (Steinert and Novikoff, 1960;Preston, 1969) and bodonids (Attias et al, 1996). However, the origin of these microtubules and their exact positioning and arrangement around the cytopharynx remained unclear.…”