Endoreplication in the ovary, testis, and intestine of Strongyloides stercoralis

Abstract

During development of the free-living adults of the human parasitic nematode Stronglyoides stercoralis, cells in certain tissues grow by endoreplication in which rounds of DNA replication occur without cell or nuclear division. The DNA content of individual nuclei was measured by microdensitometry of Feulgen-stained preparations. In females, some ovarian cells have up to 800 times the haploid DNA content (800C). In males, some cells of the testis have up to 100C. Intestinal cells in both sexes have up to 16C, whereas most other somatic cells have 2C.