Trypanosome Life Cycle

General diagram of the Trypanosoma brucei life cycle [1]

Antigenic Variation

Different Life Cycle Stages of T. brucei and their respective cell coats. a)Procyclic form in fly midgut. b)Long trypomastigote in fly proventriculus c)Asymmetric dividing epimastigote in fly proventriculus. d)short epimastigote in fly proventriculus. e)attached epimastigotes in fly salivary gland. f) metacyclic trypanosome in salivary gland, prepared for host inoculation. Note the different cell coats the trypanosome maintains throughout its fly life cycle.(Roditi et al.,2008)

References

Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.

1. Krafsur, K. "Tsetse flies: Genetics, evolution, and role as vectors" Infection, Genetics and Evolution 2009. Volume 9 p.124-141
2. Taylor, J. Rudenko, G. "Switching trypanosome coats: what's in the wardrobe?" Trends in Genetics. 2006. Volume 22 No. 11
p.614-621
3. Donelson, J. "Antigenic variation and the African trypanosome genome" Acta Tropica. 2003. Volume 85 p.391-404
4. Nikolskala, O. Lima, A. Kim, Y. Lonsdale-Eccles, J. Fukuma, T. Scharfstein, J. Grab, D. "Blood-brain barrier traversal by
African trypanosomes requires calcium signaling induced by parasite cysteine protease" The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
2006. Volume 116 No. 10 p.2739-2747
5.

Edited by student of Joan Slonczewski for BIOL 238 Microbiology, 2009, Kenyon College.