Schizogony in P. Knowlesi malaria.

Date:
[1969]
  • Film

About this work

Description

This film shows the bursting of schizonts and the attempts by merozoites to enter new red cells. The film was made in 1969 with a 16mm camera on a microscope while the parasitised blood was held at 37 degrees C in a chamber containing culture medium. The parasite species was Plasmodium knowesi, a natural malaria parasite of South East Asian macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis and Macaca nemestrina) that has a 24 hour cycle in the blood and in the experimental host used for this work, M. mulatta,. (the rhesus monkey) it is highly synchronous, ie. almost all the schizonts burst within several hours (at mid day). The culture medium (Harvard Medium) was not ideal and many red cells do not show the normal discoid shape. Also, the poor state of the red cells made it difficult for parasites to complete the process of invasion before the red cells lysed (ie. leaked the cell contents).

Publication/Creation

[U.K. London], [1969]

Physical description

1 film reel (9 min.) : silent, black and white 16 mm

Notes

This work provided the foundation for trials of vaccines based on merozoite proteins of human malaria. Fuller production notes provided by Dr. G. A. Butcher are available from the Moving Image & Sound Collection Dept.

Creator/production credits

G. A. Butcher & S. Cohen, Dept of Chemical Pathology, Guy's Hospital Medical School, London.

Contents

Part 1 In the first part of the film the medium contains serum from an uninfected rhesus monkey and shows merozoites being released from bursting schizonts, attaching to red cells and the contortions of these cells as the merozoites attempt entry. In some cases several merosoites stick to the same red cell which then gradually lyses. The burst schizonts also release a crystalline particle, the residual body, which contains the waste product of haemoglobin digestion, called haemozoin. Time start:00:00:00:00 Time end:00:05:58:00 Length: 00:05:58:00
Part 2 In the second part of the film, the serum component of the medium was taken from a monkey with P. knowlesi. In this series of shots, the free merozoites are agglutinated at the apical end and were less likely to invade red cells as a result of antibodies in the immune serum attaching to the merosoite surface proteins. Time start:00:05:58:00 Time end:00:08:46:00 Length: 00:02:48:00

Copyright note

G. A. Butcher & S. Cohen.

Type/Technique

Languages

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores
    4289F
    By appointmentManual request

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