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Vol. 38 No. 1, 1999
Invasion of Bacteroids and BEV Bacterium into Oocytes of the Leafhopper Euscelidius variegatus Kirschbaum (Homoptera: Cicadellidae): An Electron Microscopic Study
Wilkin Wai-Kuen Cheung1,* and Alexander H. Purcell2
1Department of Biology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
2Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3 112, USA
Wilkin Wai-Kuen Cheung and Alexander H. Purcell (1999) Electron microscopic studies were carried out on the infective stages of symbiotic bacteroids a and t, and their chronic pathogen BEV together with ovarioles of the leafhopper Euscelidius variegatus Kirschbaum fixed in situ.
The bacteroids were carried in cluster of host cells in the hemolymph
as an infective mound during the second day of adult emerge nce. Before
entering an ovariole through special wedge cells of the follicular
epithelium, they were released as individuals. The BEV bacteria were
also carried in infective mounds and were released to the hemolymph for
oocyte infection. Host hemocytes (probably plasmatocytes) engulfed
bacteroids and BEV bacteria in the hemolymph when they were not
protected by host's cell membranes.
Key words: Symbionts, Bacteria, Ovary, Ultrastructure, Insect immunity.
*Correspondence: Tel: (852) 26096348 / 26096388. Fax: (852) 26 035646.
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