Structure of Microsporidia

Microsporidia are eukaryotic and unicellular. Structural characters are still basic for microsporidian classification, despite that molecular biology characters are progressively gaining importance for revealing relationships between individual taxons of the phylum and between microsporidia and other organisms. This chapter presents the structural aspects of reproduction and life cycles, essentials of microsporidian cytology, structure of microsporidian developmental stages, and envelopes of microsporidian origin. Discussions also include the mature spore, cytological anomalies in microsporidia, microsporidia-induced effects on host cytology, the structure of some human opportunistic microsporidia and techniques in microsporidia research. Spores are the only stage that survives outside the host, and due to their durability and structural complexity, the spores are essential for microsporidium recognition and classification.