Cryptosporidium parvum is a protozoan parasite with a single host lifecycle composed of asexual (trophozoites and meronts) and sexual (female and male gamonts) replicative stages. This parasite is microscopic in size (~2-6 µm) when compared to its host cells (~25µm). To visualize the developmental stages of the parasite in higher resolution we labeled parasite proteins and utilized antibodies, stains, and SR-SIM. In the leftmost image there are two meronts (in green parasite protein, red parasite stain, blue nuclear stain), on top right corner the merozoites are escaping from the vacuole and on the bottom, there is a mature meront. The center image shows two male gamonts (in red parasite protein, green parasite stain, blue nuclear stain) and two female gamonts (green parasite stain) next to each other. The rightmost image shows mature male gametes escaping from the gamont in an event refer to as “egress”. 

Author: Maria Nava - Sumiti Vinayak Lab.