Fig. 10.

Transmission electron micrographs of A. castellanii exposed to C. sinensis during encystation. (A) Cyst developed in a control encystation medium where distilled water was used as a solvent. (B) Cyst exposed to 100% C. sinensis encystation medium in which cold C. sinensis brew was used as the solvent. After 3 h exposure in 100% C. sinensis encystation medium, A. castellanii cyst had fewer vacuoles (V) and condensed mitochondria (M). (C) At 24 h ultrastructural changes became more discernible with a higher electrodensity in the cytoplasm and less chromatin in the nucleus (N). (D) Pronounced cellular destruction and loss of cellular contents and membrane integrity (arrow) were observed at 72 h post-exposure. The cell volume of the amoeba seems to decrease in a time-proportional manner. Magnifications: X6,000, X4,200, X4,200, and X2,550 for A to D, respectively. Scale bars = 5000 nm (A, B, C) and 10,000 nm (D).