User:Breze97/sandbox

6/5 - I evaluated the article Hammondia hammondi. Needs more resources as it only has one resource. There is only one paragraph about the parasite, showing little knowledge on the topic. It is not organized nor does it have any details.6/11 - The article I have chosen to update is the Hammondia hammondi. The first source I have is an article that explains where the pathogen came from and how scientists discovered it using cats and mice.

J. P. Dubey, et al. “Molecular and Biological Characterization of First Isolates of Hammondia Hammondi from Cats from Ethiopia.” The Journal of Parasitology, vol. 99, no. 4, 2013, p. 614. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1645/12-51.1.

The second source provides an explanation on how to tell H. hammondi and Toxoplasma gondii are identically alike but five monoclonal antibodies were discovered for H. hammondi.There are also a couple of different ways to tell these two pathogens apart.

Homayoun Riahi, et al. “Monoclonal Antibodies to Hammondia Hammondi Allowing an Immunological Differentiation from Toxoplasma Gondii.” The Journal of Parasitology, vol. 86, no. 6, 2000, p. 1362. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2307/3285029.

The third source mentions the phylogenetic tree, or thats what I think they are referring. A lot of DNA and RNA sequencing that seem identical to other strands. To help it trace back to the original family.

6/20 - This week, I learned how to cite sources into the article. For example, using the first article in the week of 6/11, scientists have found ways to figure out the microbe using cats and mice.

Walzer, Katelyn A.; Wier, Gregory M.; Dam, Rachel A.; Srinivasan, Ananth R.; Borges, Adair L.; English, Elizabeth D.; Herrmann, Daland C.; Schares, Gereon; Dubey, Jitender P. (2014-12). "Hammondia hammondi Harbors Functional Orthologs of the Host-Modulating Effectors GRA15 and ROP16 but Is Distinguished from Toxoplasma gondii by a Unique Transcriptional Profile". Eukaryotic Cell. 13 (12): 1507–1518. doi:10.1128/EC.00215-14. ISSN 1535-9778

6/27 - The life cycle - the parasites multiply asexually or sexually in the intestines of cats. Between 1-3 days after introduction to cats, bradyzoites are found in sections of the cat's small intestine. On the 4th day, daughter cells of the parasite can be found near the host cell's nucleus, in the cytoplasm. At 6 and 7 days, they are found inside the cells of the intestinal lining. They can be killed during these stages.

7/4 - Relation to Toxoplasma gondii - very similar although H. hammondi has a smaller group of hosts that it can infect. This group is cats, rats, mice, other small rodents, goats, and roe deer. Mice were used to test the differences between T. gondii and H. hammondi, telling scientists that H. hammondi infections in mice can only be caused by oocysts and mice that are immunosuppressed won't show any symptoms of the parasite. T. gondii, on the other hand, can infect mice at any life stage of the disease. The biggest difference between the two parasites is their own capabilities to transmit between hosts.

7/7 - Another difference is the cell itself between T. gondii and H. hammondi. As a sporozoite, H. hammondi has a cell body that is the shape of a crystal. As a tachyzoite, the secretory organelle will interact with electrons more strongly and appear darker than T. gondii. Finally, bradyzoites are smaller in size than compared to T. gondii. So even though the two parasites are nearly identical, there are ways to tell them apart under the microscope.

7-10 Hi Brianna,

Are the dates of 6/27, 7/4, and 7/7 your three different paragraphs for your contribution? You may want to make the paragraphs a little more clear and put together. Like in your first paragraph you don’t even mention that you are writing about H. hammondi. I had to keep referring to your 6/11 entry to remind myself which one you were supposed to be talking about. The content that I’ve read in 6/27, 7/4, and 7/7, tells me about its living quarters and the differences between T. gondii and H. hammondi. The teacher wanted us to list 3 unique things about the microbe, not including its niche. You may want to add 2 more interesting facts about your parasite. You should mention that you have a Protozoa and it doesn’t have a gram stain reaction. Im not sure if it matters or not, but you did not use all of your resources in your contributions.

Hope this helps,

Elizabeth C.

7/15 - Thank you Elizabeth for bringing that to my attention. I will find more interesting facts to discuss and confirm what parasite I am doing. I figured with the citations that they were possibilities of information that I could use.

Hammondia hammondi is a protozoa that does not have a gram reaction. H. Hammondi parasites multiply asexually or sexually in the intestines of cats. Between 1-3 days after introduction to cats, bradyzoites are found in sections of the cat's small intestine. On the 4th day, daughter cells of the parasite can be found near the host cell's nucleus, in the cytoplasm. At 6 and 7 days, they are found inside the cells of the intestinal lining. They can be killed during these stages.

Relation to Toxoplasma gondii - very similar although H. hammondi has a smaller group of hosts that it can infect. This group is cats, rats, mice, other small rodents, goats, and roe deer. Mice were used to test the differences between T. gondii and H. hammondi, telling scientists that H. hammondi infections in mice can only be caused by oocysts, because thats the stage of when it can be infectious, and mice that are immunosuppressed won't show any symptoms of the parasite. As a sporozoite, H. hammondi has a cell body that is the shape of a crystal. As a tachyzoite, the secretory organelle will interact with electrons more strongly and appear darker. Finally, bradyzoites are smaller in size. So even though the two parasites are nearly identical, there are ways to tell them apart under the microscope.

As an experiment, oocysts were given to eight dogs while cysts were given to four dogs. Between the period of 16-101 days, all of the experimented dogs died and did not shed oocysts. The intestines of the dogs were given to cats which then shed oocysts after 8-10 days. The scientists found out that there were no lesions in any of the twelve dogs that were given the parasite. Lesions are a common symptom from multiplication of tachyzoites that was found in mice after tissues cysts were formed. Dogs, along with the other rodents, are intermediate hosts and cats are the final host. That means cats are don't experience the symptoms of the disease.

The year 1975 was the year that scientists have discovered H. hammondi. A cat from Iowa was infected, along with a cat from Germany and three out of 1,604 cats from Hawaii. Over a thousand cats were killed by the Humane Society in Ohio and their feces were examined for intestinal issues. H. hammondi was discovered along with some other parasites. There was a wide range of the disease. In Australia, 1978, another scientist discovered feeding his laboratory-raised cats infected mice and rats. The result was the cats shedded oocysts. In Japan, scientists discovered that feeding goat muscles to cats. The cat from Germany was fed roe deer muscles and shedded oocysts. Proving that there are a lot of intermediate hosts and cats being the final host.

To Brianna:

These paragraphs are much better organized after your peer review- however I think the style of writing could use some editing, this sounds a bit conversational and not formal enough for an assignment that will be read by the public. For example in the first paragraph you start with a sentence " The life cycle is that..." rather than "H. hammondi can reproduce sexually or asexually in the intestines of cats.". At the end of this paragraph you have a sentence stating "They can be killed during these life stages" - you discussed 3 life stages which of the life stages can they be killed and how are they treated - there is no mention of treatment just a mention that they can be killed...

In the second paragraph you elaborate far too much on T. gondii. It would be sufficient to say that the two parasites are very similar except that H.hammondi has a more narrow host range list hosts of H. hammondi, the cell shape is different list shape of H. hammondi, and the mechanisms of transmission is different - you never mention how either is transmitted although you do say this is the biggest difference - I would include an explanation of the transmission of H. hammondi. I don't understand the part about oocysts being able to infect mice - is this the only stage that infects any of the hosts? I would leave this out as it doesn't make sense in this paragraph where the major subject is comparing to T. gonndi. I wouldn't list any of the characteristics of T. gonndi instead I would provide a link to the wiki article on T. gonndi and let the reader go there if they are interested in learning about T. gonndi the reason they landed on the H. hammondi wiki page was to learn about H. hammondi not T. gonndi. In the third paragraph you mention there were no lesions in dog intestines - but you never mentioned there being lesions in cat intestines or mice or any other animal- is this a symptom of the disease? Also you mentioned that in immunosuppressed mice there are no symptoms so are the lesions caused by the immune system of the animal - or are there only lesions in cats?

In the fourth paragraph you mention that H. hammondi was discovered in 1975 - then you mention 4 very different geographic areas where cats were discovered to have the disease. Why if the disease was discovered in Iowa were cats in Hawaii checked for the disease? I really struggle to understand this paragraph and what the connection between the different places that discovered cats infected with H. hammondi is. Can you elaborate on how these are connected - did the cats have similar symptoms? Did all the vets who discovered them go to college together and communicate? This paragraph is more a jumble of sentences than a cohesive paragraph.

Please fix this before moving these paragraphs on to the Wiki page.

7/24 - I finalized my work and published it on wikipedia. Hopefully I won't be rejected but if I do, I won't take it to heart. This assignment was difficult for me but I am proud I am almost at the end of the project.