Transwiki approved by: w:en:User:Dmcdevit

This image was copied from wikipedia:en. The original description was:

Life cycle of the various agents responsible for w:en:microsporidiosis.

Description

1. The infective form of microsporidia is the resistant spore and it can survive for a long time in the environment.
2. The spore extrudes its polar tubule and infects the host cell.
3. The spore injects the infective sporoplasm into the eukaryotic host cell through the polar tubule.
4. Inside the cell, the sporoplasm undergoes extensive multiplication either by merogony (binary fission) or schizogony (multiple fission).
5. This development can occur either in direct contact with the host cell cytoplasm (e.g., E. bieneusi) or inside a vacuole termed parasitophorous vacuole (e.g., E. intestinalis). Either free in the cytoplasm or inside a parasitophorous vacuole, microsporidia develop by sporogony to mature spores.
6. During sporogony, a thick wall is formed around the spore, which provides resistance to adverse environmental conditions. When the spores increase in number and completely fill the host cell cytoplasm, the cell membrane is disrupted and releases the spores to the surroundings.
7. These free mature spores can infect new cells thus continuing the cycle.

Obtained from the CDC Public Health Image Library.

Image credit: CDC/Alexander J. da Silva, PhD/Melanie Moser. (PHIL #3411), 2002.

本圖像是美國衛生及公共服務部所屬的美國疾病控制與預防中心的員工在職務期間所拍攝或繪製的。作為美國聯邦政府的作品，本圖片屬於公有領域。