Figures 1–2; Sporulated oocysts of Isospora machadoae sp. nov. recovered from Turdus albicolis from Brazil: (1) line drawing; (2) photomicrographs. Note the micropyle and micropyle cap (m/mc), nucleus (n), polar granule (pg), refractile body (rb), rough oocyst wall (row), Stieda (sb) and sub-Stieda bodies (ssb) and the sporocyst residuum (sr). Scale bar = 10 μm.
It is responsible for the condition isosporiasis, which causes acute, non-bloody diarrhoea in immunocompromised individuals.
Taxonomy
At least 248 species were originally described in this genus. For instance, the house sparrow has 12 species of Isospora.[1][2] However, most species are little studied, and some authors doubt whether all should be recognized as distinct species.[3] In 2005, all former Isospora species that infect mammalian hosts were reclassified as members of the genus Cystoisospora, a member of the Sarcocystidae family.[4]
^David S. Lindsay; J. P. Dubey; Byron L. Blagburn (January 1997), "Biology of Isospora spp. from Humans, Nonhuman Primates, and Domestic Animals", Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 10 (1): 19–34, doi:10.1128/CMR.10.1.19, PMC172913, PMID8993857
^Barta, JR; Schrenzel, MD; Carreno, R; Rideout, BA (June 2005). "The genus Atoxoplasma (Garnham 1950) as a junior objective synonym of the genus Isospora (Schneider 1881) species infecting birds and resurrection of Cystoisospora (Frenkel 1977) as the correct genus for Isospora species infecting mammals". The Journal of Parasitology. 91 (3): 726–7. PMID16108579.