A new microsporidian parasite, Naidispora caidianensis n. gen. n. sp. was found in coelomocytes of oligochaete Branchiura sowerbyi Beddard, 1892 from Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China. Opaque, hypertrophied coelomocytes (0.17-0.24 mm in diameter) depicted clinical signs of infection. Electron microscopy revealed a microsporidian with monokaryotic life stages. Rounded uninucleate meronts subsequently transformed into multinucleate merogonial plasmodia with masses of electron-dense projections on their plasma membrane. Electron-dense sporogonial plasmodia separated into uninucleate sporonts through rosette-like budding, and further developed into sporoblasts, enclosed by a sporophorous vesicle. Uninucleate mature spores were pyriform, measured 4.1 ± 0.1 (3.9-4.3) μm × 2.1 ± 0.07 (1.9-2.2) μm (average ± SE, range, n = 50), and contained a mushroom-like anchoring disk, bipartite polaroplast, electron-lucent posterior vacuole, trilaminar spore wall and 12-14 turns of an isofilar polar filament arranged in 2-3 ranks. The 1542 bp sequence from B. soweryi showed the highest similarity (below 80 %) with Nematocenator marisprofundi (accession number: JX463178). SSU rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the novel taxon formed an independent clade from known microsporidian parasites. Based on the ultrastructural features and SSU rRNA gene sequence, we propose the establishment of a novel genus (Naidispora n. gen.) and species (Naidispora caidianensis n. sp.) to contain this parasite.
Keywords: Branchiura sowerbyi; Electron microscopy; Microsporidia; Naidispora caidianensis n. gen. n. sp.; Oligochaete.
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