Ultrastructure of the cysts of Sarcocystis tarandi from skeletal muscle of reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus tarandus )

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Author: Gjerde, Bjørn
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1985
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z85-436; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z85-436

Cysts of Sarcocystis tarandi from Rangifer tarandus tarandus were examined by transmission electron microscopy. The cysts were located within skeletal muscle cells and were limited by a unit membrane (the cyst membrane). The surface of the cyst was covered with densely packed, erect, villiform processes measuring 10.4 μm in length and 2.5 μm in diameter. The processes contained numerous longitudinally oriented microtubules. The cyst membrane was reinforced by an underlying 20–65 nm thick layer of electron-dense material, except at numerous points between the bases of the protrusions where it formed vesiclelike invaginations. Cyst ground substance formed a layer at the periphery of the cyst, filled the core of the projections, and formed septa that divided the cyst into many compartments. The compartments contained either cystozoites or metrocytes. The metrocytes possessed one or a few large dense bodies containing crystalline inclusions. The cystozoites multiplied by endodyogeny.