THE ULTRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES OF SARCOCYSTIS OVIFELIS INFESTED SHEEP TONGUE MYOFIBRILS
A. I. Radchenko, T. V. Beyer
Institute of Cytology RAS, St. Petersburg;
Structural changes were observed in filaments of Sarcocystis ovifelis infected sheep tongue myofibrils. In
sarcocysts containing myofibrils, actin filaments and Z-disks, myosin filaments and M-line were seen destroyed.
Protein bridges, uniting actin and myosin filaments into a joint complex (net), eventually become not visible, and as
a result separate Z-disks and free filaments appear. Fibrils, referred to as leptomeric, have been first revealed
between protrusions of the sarcocyst surface apparatus. These are striated filaments with periodic 100 nm striation
of dark and light bands, made of thin and short 120-200 nm long filaments 5 nm in diameter. The genesis of leptomeric
fibrils still remains obscure. In sarcocysts infected myofibrils these may be involved in metabolite transportation
to the intercellular space and back.
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