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Re-evaluation of the life cycle of Eimeria maxima Tyzzer, 1929 in chickens (Gallus domesticus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2017

J. P. Dubey  and
M. C. Jenkins
J. P. Dubey*
Affiliation:
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA
M. C. Jenkins
Affiliation:
United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland 20705-2350, USA
*
Author for correspondence: J. P. Dubey, E-mail: jitender.dubey@ars.usda.gov
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Abstract

A time-course study was conducted to resolve discrepancies in the literature and better define aspects of the Eimeria maxima life cycle such, as sites of development and both morphology and number of asexual stages. Broiler chickens were inoculated orally with five million E. maxima oocysts (APU1), and were necropsied at regular intervals from 12 to 120 h p.i. Small intestine tissue sections and smears were examined for developmental stages. The jejunum contained the highest numbers of developmental stages. At 12 h p.i., sporozoites were observed inside a parasitophorous vacuole (PV) in the epithelial villi and the lamina propria. By 24 h, sporozoites enclosed by a PV were observed in enterocytes of the glands of Lieberkühn. At 48 h p.i., sporozoites, elongated immature and mature schizonts, were all seen in the glands with merozoites budding off from a residual body. By 60 h, second-generation, sausage-shaped schizonts containing up to 12 merozoites were observed around a residual body in the villar tip of invaded enterocytes. At 72 and 96 h, profuse schizogony associated with third- and fourth-generation schizonts was observed throughout the villus. At 120 h, another generation (fifth) of schizonts were seen in villar tips as well as in subepithelium where gamonts and oocysts were also present; a few gamonts were in epithelium. Our finding of maximum parasitization of E. maxima in jejunum is important because this region is critical for nutrient absorption and weight gain.

Keywords

Chickens (Gallus domesticus)developmentEimeria maximalife cycleschizogony
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 145 , Issue 8 , July 2018 , pp. 1051 - 1058
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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