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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Feb 19.
Published in final edited form as: In Vitro Cell Dev Biol Anim. 2009 Jan 30;45(0):135–147. doi: 10.1007/s11626-008-9172-3

Figure 1. Life cycle of generalized microsporidia in culture.

Figure 1

Environmental Infective Phase (left): Spores can germinate and inject infective sporoplasm (1a) or undergo phagocytosis (2a) to gain entry into the host cell. Intracellular Proliferative Phase (middle): Merogony typically occurs in direct contact with host cytoplasm (1b). With phagocytosis, sproplasm evades lysosomal destruction (2b). Sporogony may (c) or may not occur within a membrane. Spore maturation occurs through metamorphosis (d). Environmental Infective Phase (right): Liberation of infective spores (e), accompanied with host cell death. HC = host cell; N = nucleus of host cell.