Ultrastructure of Babesai bovis (Babes, 1888)

An electron microscope study of thin sections of bovine erythrocytes parasitized with Babesia bovis (Texas isolate) revealed that the body of the parasite is covered with a pellicular complex consisting of three membranes, two located on the interior and one on the outer part of the pellicle. Parasites observed possessed one nucleus and one nucleolus containing aggregated nuclear material. Each of these aggregations was bounded by two nuclear membranes. Organelles such as polar rings, rhoptries, micronemes, vesicular structures, cisternae of the nuclear membrane, spherical bodies, mitochondria-like structures and Maurer's clefts were indentified and described. The basic similarities and differences in the intra-erythrocytic stages of Babesia bovis, in comparison with other Babesia spp. parasites, are discussed.