Improvement of the observational method for Plasmodium berghei oocysts in the midgut of mosquitoes

Parasites & Vectors

Table 1 Number of oocysts counted with GFP and the improved technique.

	No. of mosquitoes	GFP^a	Improved Method^b	b/a (%)^c		No. of mosquitoes	GFP^a	Improved Method^b	b/a (%)^c
	1	272	254	93		1	112	103	92
Exp. 1	2	192	173	90	Exp. 2	2	105	102	97
	3	143	160	112		3	99	94	95
	4	131	118	90		4	70	66	94
	5	80	82	103		5	56	45	80
	6	72	76	106		6	53	51	96
	7	71	70	99		7	53	50	94
	8	71	55	78		8	33	35	106
	9	61	56	92		9	26	32	123
	10	61	52	85		10	22	25	114
	11	57	59	104		11	22	21	96
	12	43	41	95		12	17	17	100
	13	41	45	110		13	14	14	100
	14	8	8	100		14	12	11	92
	15	7	7	100		15	8	8	100
	16	5	5	100		16	6	6	100

^a Number of oocyst counted with GFP.
^b Number of oocyst counted with the improved method.
^c Retrieved oocyst count (a/b) = number of oocyst counted with the improved method/number of oocyst counted with GFP × 100 (%). Arithmetic mean ± S.E.M. of the retrieved oocyst count from 32 mosquitoes was 97 ± 2 (%).

ISSN: 1756-3305