Despite increasing use of molecular diagnostics in clinical parasitology laboratories, a mainstay faecal remains microscopy by capable microbiologist. With decreasing rates parasitic infection high income nations such as Australia, the opportunity to regularly see elements faeces is decreasing. At times, unusual or suspicious may be observed smears. An important skill for all conducting able de...

Seven stains were studied to determine the best color and contrast for staining the developmental stages of free living pathogenic Acanthamoeba and Naegleria species. The acid-fast bacilli stain (AFB) produced a blue color without contrast; trichrome-eosin and modified Field's showed various color contrasts; Giemsa, iron-hematoxylin, modified AFB and Gram produced only one color which distingui...

The nature of the surface deformations of erythrocytes infected with the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy at two stages of the 48-h parasite maturation cycle. Infected cells bearing trophozoite-stage parasites (24-36 h) had small protrusions (knobs), with diameters varying from 160 to 110 nm, and a density ranging from 10 to 35 knobs X...

Acanthamoeba T4 genotype is the most prevalent genotype associated with amoebic keratitis. Acanthamoeba keratitis therapy is difficult due to transformation of trophozoite to cyst stage, which hinders the treatment of the disease. Although encystation assists the organism to survive against the chemotherapeutic compounds, the precise mechanism of encystation remains poorly understood. The purpo...

BACKGROUND Giardia lamblia is one of the most common infectious protozoans in human that may cause diarrhea in travelers. Searching for antigens that induced effectively protective immunity has become a key point in the development of vaccine against giardiasis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Mice vaccinated with G. lamblia trophozozite-specific α1-giardin DNA vaccine delivered orally by atte...

The asexual blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum in the human host is comprised of morphologically distinct ring, trophozoite and schizont stages, each of which possesses a distinct pattern of gene expression. Episomal promoter recombination has been recently reported in malaria parasites. We aim to investigate the nature of this process, and its relationship with promoter activity by employing...

Sequestration, the adherence of infected erythrocytes containing late developmental stages of the parasite (trophozoites and schizonts) to the endothelium of capillaries and venules, is characteristic of Plasmodium falciparum infections. We have studied two host factors, the spleen and antibody, that influence sequestration of P. falciparum in the squirrel monkey. Sequestration of trophozoite/s...

Transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) from exponentially growing cells (trophozoites) and from precysts of Acanthamoeba castellanii were examined by reversed-phase column (RPC-2) chromatography. This system gave excellent resolution of isoaccepting species of tRNA. The tRNAs for 12 amino acids were studied. A comparison of trophozoite and precyst tRNA elution profiles revealed no apparent difference...

The in-vitro activity of two vertebrate lytic peptides, two ion transport system inhibitors and two polyether ionophores was investigated against four clinical isolates of Pneumocystis carinii recovered from bronchoalveolar lavages of AIDS patients. The susceptibility tests were performed by inoculating the isolates on to cell monolayers and determining the parasite count after 72 h incubation ...