Reconstruction of the chondriome of the amastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi

The chondriome of the amastigote form of Trypanosoma cruzi was studied by fluorescent microscopy using rhodamine 123 and conventional transmission electron microscopy of serial thick sections. The 3-dimensional models of the chondriome generated from the serial sections using manual or computer-assisted analysis revealed a single circular or horseshoe-shaped mitochondrion in each amastigote studied. The morphology of the amastigote chondriome does not conform to that seen in the epimastigote or trypomastigote forms of T. cruzi. Cell shape and mitochondrial form are comparable for a given morphotype, but they differ between cyclical forms.