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A new morphological analysis of eggs and miracidia of Paratanaisia bragai (Digenea: Eucotylidae)

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Abstract

Paratanaisia bragai is a trematode that reaches sexual maturity in the kidney collecting ducts of domestic and wild birds, while the gastropods Subulina octona and Leptinaria unilamellata serve as its intermediate hosts. The morphology of P. bragai eggs is described here for the first time, using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Embryonic eggs, obtained from adult worms collected from naturally infected definitive hosts, appeared elliptical, with an evident operculum, by all three microscopic techniques employed. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the abopercular region presents a prominent U-shaped knob, which stands out from the egg surface. The thickness of the eggs, measured from ultrathin sections, were 0.34 ± 0.06 µm (0.29–0.50) at the ends and 0.31 ± 0.05 µm (0.24–0.36) in the middle region. The internal shell layer was more electron-dense and thinner than the middle layer, which comprised nearly the entire shell, while the external layer was less electron-dense and thinner than the internal layer. Rupture of the eggs, by the coverslip pressure, revealed the miracidia of P. bragai that was characterized by light and transmission electron microscopy.

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Acknowledgements

To the Helminth Biology Laboratory Otto Wucherer, Program of Cell Biology and Parasitology, Carlos Chagas Filho Institute of Biophysics, Health Sciences Center, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, for the support for performing the procedures and microscopy analysis.

Funding

This study was financed by: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, Conselho Nacional para o Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Grant number303248/2018-1, and Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Grant number E-26/203.004/2016.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) , Seropédica, RJ, Brasil

    Vanessa Barreto Xavier

  2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Polo Barreto, Campus Macaé, Macaé, RJ, Brasil

    Aleksandra Oliveira-Menezes

  3. Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Programa de Biologia Celular e Parasitologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

    Viviane Sant’anna de Souza & Wanderley de Souza

  4. Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Helmintos, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica, RJ, Brasil

    Solange Viana Paschoal Blanco Brandolini

  5. Laboratório de Biologia Celular e Tecidual, Centro de Biociências e Biotecnologia, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brasil

    Renato A. DaMatta

  6. Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica, RJ, Brasil

    Jairo Pinheiro

  7. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias (PPGCV), Instituto de Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Seropédica, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

    Vanessa Barreto Xavier

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  1. Vanessa Barreto Xavier
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  2. Aleksandra Oliveira-Menezes
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  3. Viviane Sant’anna de Souza
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  4. Solange Viana Paschoal Blanco Brandolini
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  7. Jairo Pinheiro
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Correspondence to Jairo Pinheiro.

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The experiment was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Use (CEUA), Veterinary Institute, UFRRJ (protocol number 186/2011, process number 23083.011596/2011-67).

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Xavier, V.B., Oliveira-Menezes, A., Sant’anna de Souza, V. et al. A new morphological analysis of eggs and miracidia of Paratanaisia bragai (Digenea: Eucotylidae). Biologia 76, 933–941 (2021). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-020-00604-w

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