Dr. Murai Éva szerk.: Parasitologia Hungarica 23. (Budapest, 1990)

Parasit, hung. 23. 1990 Ultrastructure of Sarcocystis sibirica (Matchulski, 1947) from the Siberian roe deer, Capreolus pygargus Dr. László SUGÁR

1

, Dr. Rolf ENTZEROTH

2 and Dr. Bill CHOBOTAR

3 Faculty of Animal Sciences, Pannon University of Agriculture

1

, Kaposvár, Hungary — Institute of Zoology, University of Bonn

2

, Germany — Department of Biology, Andrews University

3

, Michigan, USA "Ultrastructure of Sarcocystis sibirica (Matchulski, 1947) from the Siberian roe deer, Capreolus pygargus" - Sugár, L., Entzeroth, R. and Chobotar, B. - Parasit, hung., 23: 13-17. 1990. ABSTRACT Sarcocystis tissue cysts from the Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) were studied by light and electron microscopy. Seven out of eight roe deer were infected (85 %). Cysts were macroscopically visible measuring 1-4 mm in length and 0.1-0.5 mm in width. They contained typical Sarcocystis merozoites 10.8 fim in length and 2.4 /xm in width. The taxonomic relation of Sarcocystis sibirica (Matchulski, 1947) to Sarcocystis species of the European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is discussed. KEY WORDS: Sarcocystis sibirica, merozoites, fine structure, taxonomy, Siberian roe deer. Sarcocystis is a ubiquitous parasite of mammals and is particularly well represented among herbivorous game animals all over the world (DUBEY, SPEER and FAYER 1989). This is not surprising since these animals, as intermediate hosts, are prey to a variety of predators whose ranges overlap, thus promoting propagation of the life cycle. Examination of these intermediate hosts often reveals the presence of tissue cysts in a variety of muscles. In the present study we describe sarcocysts found in naturally infected Siberian roe deer, Capreolus pygargus (Pallas, 1771). MATERIALS AND METHODS Five adult and 3 juvenile (6 months old) deer from the Ojok district, 65 km northeast of Irkutsk/Lake Baikal, were examined for Sarcocystis infections in November 1982. Samples of heart, tongue, diaphragm, esophagus and intercostal muscles were fixed in 10 % phosphate buffered formalin. For ultrastructural study they were further fixed in 2.5 % glutaraldehyde in sodium cacodylate buffer (pH 7.4), post-fixed in 1 % Os04 and processed for electron microscopy by established routine methods. Semithin sections (1.0-1.5 /im) were cut from Araldite-embedded tissues, mounted on microscope slides and stained with toluidine blue for examination by light microscopy. Ultrathin sections were post-stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and studied with a Zeiss EM 9 electron microscope.