Parasites- Balamuthia mandrillaris

Parasites- Balamuthia mandrillaris By: Mahnoor Sheikh

Punnett Square: Second Generation

Continuation

Both parents normally contribute one gamete or sex cell to the process. This process assures that the genetic information given to the offspring will be obtained equally from each parent. Animals that use internal fertilization specialize in the protection of the developing egg. In some mammals the embryo is developed within the mother; which increases the protection as the mother supplies the embryo with food. Mammalian mothers tend to continue to care for their young for several years after birth.

Physical Traits

Life Cycle

Balamuthia is a free-living ameba found in the environment. Since then, approximately 200 cases of Balamuthia disease have been reported worldwide; approximately 70 of those cases have been reported in the United States.

Balamuthia can cause Balamuthia granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE), a serious brain infection that is usually fatal. Balamuthia GAE occurs when the Balamuthia amoebae infect the body, possibly through skin wounds and cuts, or when dust containing Balamuthia is breathed in through the nose or mouth. The amoebae may travel to the brain directly through the sinuses (tissues), or through the bloodstream; this is very rare.

The life cycle of Balamuthia mandrillaris has two stages, Cysts and Trophozoites. The Trophozoites replicates by mitosis; and are the infective forms. Although both cysts and trophozoites gain entry into the body through various means. They can enter through nasal passages to the lower respiratory tract or broken or ulcerated skin. Once it enters the human body it can invade the central nervous system by the blood stream leading to granulomatous amebic encephalitis or skin lesions, or disseminated disease in immunocompetent as well as immunocompromised individuals. B. mandrillaris cysts and trophozoites can be found in tissues.

Reproduction of Hosts- Humans/mammals

Traits of the B. Mandrillaris

My Parasite

• The parasite B. Mandrillaris exhibits the trait that it exists in freshwater or in the soil or dust and so infects mammals especially in dogs or humans playing in the freshwater or soil or by inhalation of dust.

• The parasite exists in two physical forms: either as motile trophozoites or the heat and weather resistant cysts form which is responsible for its portal of entry. The parasite therefore gains easy entry either through broken skin if present in freshwater or through the respiratory tract if exposed to contaminated dust.

• The name of my parasite is Balamuthia mandrillaris
• Hosts it infects: Humans and other mammals

How are humans affected

If the offspring of the first generation has the genotype Ll, which is the genetically modified gene. If this organism mates with another genetically modified organism then their offspring have a 75% chance of being genetically modified, 2 out of 3 will be heterozygous and 1 will be homozygous dominant. With only 25% chance of the offspring being infected by the parasite.

The process of sexual reproduction involves two parents, they donate genes to their offspring with a mix of inherited genes. These genes are donated through a process called fertilization; the female gamete is called the egg or the ovum and the male gamete is called a sperm. These gametes are formed in specialized reproductive structures called gonads.

The two mechanisms by which fertilization can take place are external (the eggs are fertilized outside of the body), and the second is internal (the eggs are fertilized within the female reproductive tract).

Reproduction

My parasite Balamuthia mandrillaris is a prokaryote and reproduces asexually, by binary fission. During binary fission, the single DNA molecule replicates and the original cell divides into two identical daughter cells.

STEPS OF CELL DIVISION:

• Binary fission begins with the single DNA molecule replicating and and both copies attaching to the cell membrane.
• Next, the cell membrane begins to grow between the two DNA molecules. When the bacterium is just about double its original size, the cell membrane begins to pinch inward.
• A cell wall then forms between the two DNA molecules dividing the original cell into two identical daughter cells.

Humans

B. mandrillaris

Other Mammals

Balamuthia mandrillaris enters the host either through the skin or the respiratory tract. It can begin in the skin and can lead to a wound on the face, hands, legs or body. If the infection involves the brain it leads to granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE). GAE shows the presence of the parasitic trophozoites and cysts surrounded by inflammatory cells.The symptoms may include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, head and neck stiffness and pain. Seizures, difficulty in walking or speaking, partial paralysis may develop. The disease may be mild at first but later may become severe and is often fatal with a death rate of more than 95%.

Life Cycle

The Cure

Future Generation Punnett Square

The gene therapy with the help of L. pneumophila, upon incubation with B. mandrillaris, L. pneumophila remained and multiplied within large vacuoles inside the amoeba. The continued incubation resulted in rounding and detachment of the host amoeba, resulting in its rounding up and complete destruction. Thus germ line therapy is passed on into the gene pool of future generations.

The dominant gene L, which is the modified gene which has been injected with L. pneumophila affects only one of the two genes; if the organism then mated with an organism who is not cured, the probability that their offspring will be cured will be a 50% chance.

Bibliography

• http://cmr.asm.org/content/21/3/435.full
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balamuthia_mandrillaris
• http://www.cdc.gov/features/OrganSafety/
• http://regentsprep.org/Regents/biology/units/reproduction/sexual.cfm
• http://biology.about.com/od/genetics/a/aa040805a.htm