Cell hypertrophy was the first reaction of the gut epithelial cells of Aedes aegypti (L.), Anopheles albitarsis (Lynch-Arribálzaga) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) to the toxins of strains 2362 and S1116 of Bacillus sphaericus, as cells had an increase of intracellular secretory activity. Soon after the cell hypertrophy developed, vesicles were formed at the cell apical portion, which detached with the plasma membrane, characterizing a type of apocrine secretion like. The first pathway of contamination of the mosquito larvae by these bacteria is through the gut, by feeding. Depending on the species of Culicidae and on the bacterial strain used, the hypertrophy of the gut epithelium occurred between 5 and 15 min after exposure to the contaminated... |