Tick‐borne Babesia parasites are responsible for costly diseases worldwide. Improved control and prevention tools are urgently needed, but development of such tools is limited by numerous gaps in knowledge of the parasite–host relationships. We hereby used atomic force microscopy (AFM) and frequency‐modulated Kelvin probe potential microscopy (FM‐KPFM) techniques to compare size, texture, roughness and surface potential of normal and infected Babesia bovis, B. bigemina and B. caballi erythrocytes to better understand the physical properties of these parasites. In addition, AFM and FM‐KPFM allowed a detailed view of extraerythrocytic merozoites revealing shape, topography and surface potential of paired and single parasites. B. bovis‐infected erythrocytes display distinct surface texture and overall roughness compared to noninfected erythrocytes. Interestingly, B. caballi‐infected erythrocytes do not display the surface ridges typical in B. bovis parasites. Observations of extraerythrocytic B. bovis, B. bigemina and B. caballi merozoites using AFM revealed differences in size and shape between these three parasites. Finally, similar to what was previously observed for Plasmodium‐infected erythrocytes, FM‐KPFM images reveal an unequal electric charge distribution, with higher surface potential above the erythrocyte regions that are likely associated with Babesia parasites than over its remainder regions. In addition, the surface potential of paired extraerythrocytic B. bovis Mo7 merozoites revealed an asymmetric potential distribution. These observations may be important to better understand the unique cytoadhesive properties of B. bovis‐infected erythrocytes, and to speculate on the role of differences in the distribution of surface charges in the biology of the parasites.

中文翻译：

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使用原子力显微镜比较巴贝虫感染的红细胞和红细胞外裂殖子的地形特征和电荷分布

蜱传播的巴贝虫寄生虫是全世界代价高昂的疾病的罪魁祸首。迫切需要改进的控制和预防工具，但此类工具的开发受到寄生虫 - 宿主关系知识的众多空白的限制。我们在此使用原子力显微镜 (AFM) 和调频开尔文探针电位显微镜 (FM-KPFM) 技术来比较正常和受感染的牛巴贝斯虫、B. bigemina 和 B. caballi 红细胞的大小、质地、粗糙度和表面电位，以更好地了解这些寄生虫的物理特性。此外，AFM 和 FM-KPFM 允许详细查看红细胞外裂殖子，揭示成对和单个寄生虫的形状、地形和表面潜力。B. 与未感染的红细胞相比，牛感染的红细胞显示出不同的表面纹理和整体粗糙度。有趣的是，B. caballi 感染的红细胞不显示 B. bovis 寄生虫典型的表面脊。使用 AFM 对红细胞外 B. bovis、B. bigemina 和 B. caballi 裂殖子的观察揭示了这三种寄生虫在大小和形状上的差异。最后，与先前对疟原虫感染的红细胞所观察到的类似，FM-KPFM 图像显示电荷分布不均，红细胞区域上方的表面电位可能与巴贝虫寄生虫相关，而其其余区域的表面电位更高。此外，配对的红细胞外 B. bovis Mo7 裂殖子的表面电位显示出不对称的电位分布。这些观察结果对于更好地了解 B. bovis 感染的红细胞的独特细胞粘附特性可能很重要，