Babesia bigemina: in vitro multiplication of sporokinetes in Ixodes scapularis (IDE8) cells.
This paper describes the in vitro multiplication process of Babesia bigemina sporokinetes in a cell line (IDE8) from Ixodes scapularis ticks. The inoculum was obtained from hemolymph of engorged females of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus ticks naturally infected with B. bigemina. These ticks had been fed on calves living in a tick endemic farm in Brazil. Microscopic morphological details are shown to describe the development of the parasite in the tick cells; the identity of the parasite was confirmed by a duplex PCR method.
Ribeiro
Múcio F B
MF
Departamento de Parasitologia, ICB-UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. muciobr@icb.ufmg.br
Bastos
Camila V
CV
Vasconcelos
Maria Mercês C
MM
Passos
Lygia M F
LM