RM
Parasite spores, SEM
Parasite spores. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of microsporidia (Tubulinosema ratisbonensis) spores cultured on human lung fibroblast cells (brown). Microsporidia are single-celled parasites. T. ratisbonenesis is a parasite of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), but may also be able to infect humans with weakened immune systems. The spores are the infective phase of the life cycle. They are excreted by the host and enter the gut of a new host. The spores' contents, the sporoplasm, are injected into the host's cells via the polar tubule (one seen). Once in the cell the organism divides many times with the resultant organisms producing more spores. Magnification: x4900 at 10 centimetres wide.
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