The species-rich phylum Microsporidia includes obligate intracellular parasites that infect a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. Microsporidians have evolved an elaborate mechanism for invading animal host cells, but have otherwise greatly reduced biological complexity. The smallest known autonomous nuclear genome is that of a microsporidian, Encephalitozoon intestinalis (Keeling and Corradi 2011). Although the taxonomic affiliation of the Microsporidia has long been controversial, they are now known to either fall within the Fungi or to be extremely closely related to the Fungi.
Microsporidians produce resistant spores and possess a unique organelle, the polar tubule, or polar filament, which is coiled inside the spore (see below). The spores of microsporidians known to infect humans range from 1 to 4 microns in diameter. At least 14 microsporidian species have been identified as human pathogens (see Table from U.S. CDC): Brachiola algerae, B. connori, B. vesicularum, Encephalitozoon cuniculi, Enc. hellem, Enc. intestinalis (formerly known as Septata intestinalis), Enterocytozoon bieneusi, Microsporidium ceylonensis, M. africanum, Nosema ocularum, Pleistophora sp., Trachipleistophora hominis, T. anthropophthera, and Vittaforma corneae. Some domestic and wild animals may be naturally infected with Enc. cuniculi, Enc. intestinalis, and Ent. bieneusi (e.g., Santin and Fayer 2011). Birds, especially parrots (parakeets, lovebirds, budgies) are naturally infected with Enc. hellem. Enterocytozoon bieneusi and V. corneae have been identified in surface waters and spores of "Nosema" (probably B. algerae) have been identified in ditch water.
The infective form of microsporidians is the resistant spore, which can survive for long periods in the environment. The spore extrudes its polar tubule and infects the host cell. The spore injects the infective sporoplasm into the eukaryotic host cell through the polar tubule. Inside the cell, the sporoplasm undergoes extensive multiplication either by merogony (binary fission) or schizogony (multiple fission). This development can occur either in direct contact with the host cell cytoplasm (e.g., Enterocytozoon bieneusi) or inside a vacuole known as a parasitophorous vacuole (e.g., Encephalitozoon intestinalis). Either free in the cytoplasm or inside a parasitophorous vacuole, microsporidia develop by sporogony to mature spores. During sporogony, a thick wall is formed around the spore, which provides resistance to adverse environmental conditions. When the spores increase in number and completely fill the host cell cytoplasm, the cell membrane is disrupted and releases the spores to the surroundings. These free mature spores can infect new cells, continuing the cycle. (Centers for Disease Control Parasites and Health Website)
Microsporidia are being increasingly recognized as opportunistic infectious agents worldwide (Didier and Weiss 2011). Cases of microsporidiosis have been reported from developed as well as developing countries, including Argentina, Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Zambia. (Centers for Disease Control Parasites and Health Website)
Nosema microsporidians have been suspected of playing an important role in the dramatic population declines of certain bumblebee species (e.g., Cameron et al. 2011 and references therein, but see Kissinger et al. 2011) and some researchers believe Nosema has played a role in honeybee colony collapse disorder in at least some regions (Paxton 2010).
Vertical transmission (i.e., from parent host to offspring) is unusually common among microsporidians. Because this mode of transmission depends on a host surviving long enough to reproduce, it is often associated with low pathogenesis. Smith (2009) reviewed the ecology and evolution of microsporidians, emphasizing both what is known and what is not known.
Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming unicellular parasites. These spores contain an extrusion apparatus that has a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore.[7] They were once considered protozoans or protists, but are now known to be fungi,[8] or a sister group to fungi.[9] These fungal microbes are obligate eukaryotic parasites that use a unique mechanism to infect host cells.[10] They have recently been discovered in a 2017 Cornell study to infect Coleoptera on a large scale. So far, about 1500 of the probably more than one million[11] species are named. Microsporidia are restricted to animal hosts, and all major groups of animals host microsporidia. Most infect insects, but they are also responsible for common diseases of crustaceans and fish. The named species of microsporidia usually infect one host species or a group of closely related taxa. Approximately 10 percent of the species are parasites of vertebrates —several species, most of which are opportunistic, can infect humans, in whom they can cause microsporidiosis.
After infection they influence their hosts in various ways and all organs and tissues are invaded, though generally by different species of specialised microsporidia. Some species are lethal, and a few are used in biological control of insect pests. Parasitic castration, gigantism, or change of host sex are all potential effects of microsporidian parasitism (in insects). In the most advanced cases of parasitism the microsporidium rules the host cell completely and controls its metabolism and reproduction, forming a xenoma.[12]
Replication takes place within the host's cells, which are infected by means of unicellular spores. These vary from 1–40 μm, making them some of the smallest eukaryotes. Microsporidia that infect mammals are 1.0–4.0 μm.[13] They also have the smallest eukaryotic genomes.
The terms "microsporidium" (pl. "microsporidia") and "microsporidian" are used as vernacular names for members of the group. The name Microsporidium Balbiani, 1884[14] is also used as a catchall genus for incertae sedis members.[15]
Microsporidia lack mitochondria, instead possessing mitosomes. They also lack motile structures, such as flagella.
Microsporidia produce highly resistant spores, capable of surviving outside their host for up to several years. Spore morphology is useful in distinguishing between different species. Spores of most species are oval or pyriform, but rod-shaped or spherical spores are not unusual. A few genera produce spores of unique shape for the genus.
The spore is protected by a wall, consisting of three layers:
In most cases there are two closely associated nuclei, forming a diplokaryon, but sometimes there is only one.
The anterior half of the spore contains a harpoon-like apparatus with a long, thread-like polar filament, which is coiled up in the posterior half of the spore. The anterior part of the polar filament is surrounded by a polaroplast, a lamella of membranes. Behind the polar filament, there is a posterior vacuole.[12]
In the gut of the host the spore germinates; it builds up osmotic pressure until its rigid wall ruptures at its thinnest point at the apex. The posterior vacuole swells, forcing the polar filament to rapidly eject the infectious content into the cytoplasm of the potential host. Simultaneously the material of the filament is rearranged to form a tube which functions as a hypodermic needle and penetrates the gut epithelium.
Once inside the host cell, a sporoplasm grows, dividing or forming a multinucleate plasmodium, before producing new spores. The life cycle varies considerably. Some have a simple asexual life cycle,[17] while others have a complex life cycle involving multiple hosts and both asexual and sexual reproduction. Different types of spores may be produced at different stages, probably with different functions including autoinfection (transmission within a single host).
In animals and humans, microsporidia often cause chronic, debilitating diseases rather than lethal infections. Effects on the host include reduced longevity, fertility, weight, and general vigor. Vertical transmission of microsporidia is frequently reported.
In the case of insect hosts, vertical transmission often occurs as transovarial transmission, where the microsporidian parasites pass from the ovaries of the female host into eggs and eventually multiply in the infected larvae. Amblyospora salinaria n. sp. which infects the mosquito Culex salinarius Coquillett, and Amblyospora californica which infects the mosquito Culex tarsalis Coquillett, provide typical examples of transovarial transmission of microsporidia.[18][19][20][21] Microsporidia, specifically the mosquito-infecting Vavraia culicis, are being explored as a possible 'evolution-proof' malaria-control method.[22] Microsporidian infection of Anopheles gambiae (the principal vector of Plasmodium falciparum malaria) reduces malarial infection within the mosquito, and shortens the mosquito lifespan.[23] As the majority of malaria-infected mosquitoes naturally die before the malaria parasite is mature enough to transmit, any increase in mosquito mortality through microsporidian-infection may reduce malaria transmission to humans. In May 2020, researchers reported that Microsporidia MB, a symbiont in the midgut and ovaries of An. arabiensis, significantly impaired transmission of P. falciparum, had "no overt effect" on the fitness of host mosquitoes, and was transmitted vertically (through inheritance).[24]
Microsporidian infections of humans sometimes cause a disease called microsporidiosis. At least 14 microsporidian species, spread across eight genera, have been recognized as human pathogens. These include Trachipleistophora hominis.[25]
Microsporidia can infect a variety of hosts, including hosts which are themselves parasites. In that case, the microsporidian species is a hyperparasite, i.e. a parasite of a parasite. As an example, more than eighteen species are known which parasitize digeneans (parasitic flatworms). These digeneans are themselves parasites in various vertebrates and molluscs. Eight of these species belong to the genus Nosema.[26] Similarly, the microsporidian species Toguebayea baccigeri is a parasite of a digenean, the faustulid Bacciger israelensis, itself an intestinal parasite of a marine fish, the bogue Boops boops (Teleostei, Sparidae).[27]
Microsporidia have the smallest known (nuclear) eukaryotic genomes. The parasitic lifestyle of microsporidia has led to a loss of many mitochondrial and Golgi genes, and even their ribosomal RNAs are reduced in size compared with those of most eukaryotes. As a consequence, the genomes of microsporidia are much smaller than those of other eukaryotes. Currently known microsporidial genomes are 2.5 to 11.6 Mb in size, encoding from 1,848 to 3,266 proteins which is in the same range as many bacteria.[28]
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) seems to have occurred many times in microsporidia. For instance, the genomes of Encephalitozoon romaleae and Trachipleistophora hominis contain genes that derive from animals and bacteria, and some even from fungi.[28]
The first described microsporidian genus, Nosema, was initially put by Nägeli in the fungal group Schizomycetes together with some bacteria and yeasts.[29][30] For some time microsporidia were considered as very primitive eukaryotes, placed in the protozoan group Cnidospora.[1] Later, especially because of the lack of mitochondria, they were placed along with the other Protozoa such as diplomonads, parabasalids and archamoebae in the protozoan-group Archezoa.[31] More recent research has falsified this theory of early origin (for all of these). Instead, microsporidia are proposed to be highly developed and specialized organisms, which just dispensed functions that are needed no longer, because they are supplied by the host.[32] Furthermore, spore-forming organisms in general do have a complex system of reproduction, both sexual and asexual, which look far from primitive.
Since the mid-2000s microsporidia are placed within the Fungi or as a sister-group of the Fungi with a common ancestor.[33][34][35][36]
Work to identify clades is largely based on habitat and host. Three classes of Microsporidia are proposed by Vossbrinck and Debrunner-Vossbrinck, based on the habitat: Aquasporidia, Marinosporidia and Terresporidia.[37]
A second classification by Cavalier-Smith 1993:[38]
Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming unicellular parasites. These spores contain an extrusion apparatus that has a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore. They were once considered protozoans or protists, but are now known to be fungi, or a sister group to fungi. These fungal microbes are obligate eukaryotic parasites that use a unique mechanism to infect host cells. They have recently been discovered in a 2017 Cornell study to infect Coleoptera on a large scale. So far, about 1500 of the probably more than one million species are named. Microsporidia are restricted to animal hosts, and all major groups of animals host microsporidia. Most infect insects, but they are also responsible for common diseases of crustaceans and fish. The named species of microsporidia usually infect one host species or a group of closely related taxa. Approximately 10 percent of the species are parasites of vertebrates —several species, most of which are opportunistic, can infect humans, in whom they can cause microsporidiosis.
After infection they influence their hosts in various ways and all organs and tissues are invaded, though generally by different species of specialised microsporidia. Some species are lethal, and a few are used in biological control of insect pests. Parasitic castration, gigantism, or change of host sex are all potential effects of microsporidian parasitism (in insects). In the most advanced cases of parasitism the microsporidium rules the host cell completely and controls its metabolism and reproduction, forming a xenoma.
Replication takes place within the host's cells, which are infected by means of unicellular spores. These vary from 1–40 μm, making them some of the smallest eukaryotes. Microsporidia that infect mammals are 1.0–4.0 μm. They also have the smallest eukaryotic genomes.
The terms "microsporidium" (pl. "microsporidia") and "microsporidian" are used as vernacular names for members of the group. The name Microsporidium Balbiani, 1884 is also used as a catchall genus for incertae sedis members.
Xenoma on flatfish caused by Glugea stephani
