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Ultrastructure of a spirochete found in tissues of the brine shrimp,Artemia salina

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Abstract

  1. 1.

    A spirochete which occurs in tissues of the brine shrimp,Artemia salina, was studied by light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A total of seven infected shrimps were encountered.

  2. 2.

    Under darkfield illumination, most spirochete cells inArtemia blood were 6–13 μ long and 0.3–0.4 μ wide. Coiling was variable and often irregular.

  3. 3.

    When tissues of the maxillary gland (kidney) and nearby organs were examined by electron microscopy, spirochete cells were found in both extracellular and intracellular locations. These microbes possessed the ultrastructural features typical of members of the Order Spirochaetales: a) a slender protoplasmic cylinder (0.18 μ average diameter), b) axial fibrils (150 A average diameter), and c) an outer envelope or sheath (approximately 75 A thick).

  4. 4.

    Counts made of the number of axial fibrils evident in transverse sections of spirochete cells were consistent with the hypothesis that this spirochete has a 1-2-1 arrangement of axial fibrils.

  5. 5.

    Non-spiral forms were observed in the haemocoel and in the lumen of the maxillary gland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington, 98195, Seattle, Washington

    Greta E. Tyson

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Maryland, 21201, Baltimore, Maryland

    Greta E. Tyson

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  1. Greta E. Tyson
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Tyson, G.E. Ultrastructure of a spirochete found in tissues of the brine shrimp,Artemia salina . Arch. Microbiol. 99, 281–294 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696243

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696243

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