Fig. 2.

Short-term (up to 24 h) BPQ treatment of N. caninum tachyzoites cultured in human fibroblasts does not induce structural alterations. (A) Low magnification view of a non-treated N. caninum-infected HFF fixed and processed at day 4 p.i. Numerous tachyzoites reside within a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) just adjacent to the host cell nucleus (hcnu). (B) A higher magnification view of (A). The PV matrix is composed of a tubular network (PVtn). The tachyzoite nucleus (nu), mitochondrium (mito) and secretory organelles such as rhoptries (rho), micronemes (mic) and dense granules (dg) are easily identified. The white arrows in A and B point toward a zoite undergoing endodyogeny. (C) N. caninum tachyzoites that were exposed to 0.5 µM BPQ for 24 h. No structural alterations were visible, con = conoid. Bar in A = 3.8 µm; B = 0.9 µm; C = 1.0 µm.