Ultrastructural study of the host-parasite relationship of trypanosomatids in the housefly

The course of experimental oral infection of Musca domestica with Herpetomonas samuelpessoai and two new isolates from houseflies was followed for up to 40 days using optical and electron microscopy. The fly's rectum was found to be the preferential site of colonization by flagellates, mainly at places near papillar insertions but not on the papillae themselves. Midgut infection was transient, and infection of the crop did not last longer than 1 week. Promastigotes were the predominant colonizing forms and could be seen either free in the gut lumen or attached via hemidesmosomes to the rectum wall. Adherent flagellates exhibited flagellar projections and surface membrane blebs. Many flagellates displayed longitudinal body foldings yielding star-like images in cross sections. Opisthomastigotes could be seen in small numbers as free swimmers, mainly in the rectum.