Morphological Characterization of Pebrine Spore Using Scanning Electron Microscopy

The silkworm, Bombyx mori L. is susceptible to infection of various pathogenic organisms. Pebrine, one of the deadliest disease of silkworm caused by highly virulent microsporidian parasite, Nosema bombycis. Several strains and species of microsporidians have since been isolated from different regions. The primary objective of this study is to assess morphology and dimensions of pebrine spores using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) collected from different locations in Magadi taluk of Mysore seed area. The results revealed that the spores were ovo-cylindrical in shape with slight depression. On an average, the length × width measurements of these spores was 4.33 ± 0.03 × 2.13 ± 0.02 µm, closely resembled with Nosema sp. Lbms strain which measures 4.36 × 2.14 µm and also has a slight depression.