Unexpected plasiticty in the life cycle of Trypanosoma brucei
Zitieren Sie bitte immer diese URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261744
- African trypanosomes cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle. These unicellular parasites are transmitted by the bloodsucking tsetse fly. In the mammalian host’s circulation, proliferating slender stage cells differentiate into cell cycle-arrested stumpy stage cells when they reach high population densities. This stage transition is thought to fulfil two main functions: first, it auto-regulates the parasite load in the host; second, the stumpy stage is regarded as the only stage capable of successful vector transmission. Here, weAfrican trypanosomes cause sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle. These unicellular parasites are transmitted by the bloodsucking tsetse fly. In the mammalian host’s circulation, proliferating slender stage cells differentiate into cell cycle-arrested stumpy stage cells when they reach high population densities. This stage transition is thought to fulfil two main functions: first, it auto-regulates the parasite load in the host; second, the stumpy stage is regarded as the only stage capable of successful vector transmission. Here, we show that proliferating slender stage trypanosomes express the mRNA and protein of a known stumpy stage marker, complete the complex life cycle in the fly as successfully as the stumpy stage, and require only a single parasite for productive infection. These findings suggest a reassessment of the traditional view of the trypanosome life cycle. They may also provide a solution to a long-lasting paradox, namely the successful transmission of parasites in chronic infections, despite low parasitemia.…
Autor(en): | Sarah Schuster, Jaime Lisack, Ines Subota, Henriette Zimmermann, Christian Reuter, Tobias Mueller, Brooke Morriswood, Markus Engstler |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-261744 |
Dokumentart: | Artikel / Aufsatz in einer Zeitschrift |
Institute der Universität: | Fakultät für Biologie / Theodor-Boveri-Institut für Biowissenschaften |
Sprache der Veröffentlichung: | Englisch |
Titel des übergeordneten Werkes / der Zeitschrift (Englisch): | eLife |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2021 |
Band / Jahrgang: | 10 |
Aufsatznummer: | e66028 |
Originalveröffentlichung / Quelle: | eLife (2021) 10:e66028. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66028 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66028.sa2 |
Allgemeine fachliche Zuordnung (DDC-Klassifikation): | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Freie Schlagwort(e): | development; life cycle; sleeping sickness; transmission; trypanosoma; tsetse fly |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 25.04.2022 |
Sammlungen: | Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2021 |
Lizenz (Deutsch): | CC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International |