The Social Life of African Trypanosomes. Issue 10 (October 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Imhof, Simon; Roditi, Isabel
• Is Part Of: Trends in parasitology. Volume 31:Issue 10(2015:Oct.)
• Page Start: 490
• Page End: 498
• Publication Date: 2015-10
• Subjects: Parasitology -- Periodicals; Parasitology -- Periodicals; Biology -- Periodicals; Parasitology; Biology; Parasitologie -- Périodiques; Online resources; 571.999
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2015.06.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-4922

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="author" id="abs0005"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <p id="spar0005">The unicellular parasite <italic>Trypanosoma brucei</italic> shuttles between its definitive host, the tsetse fly, and various mammals including humans. In the fly digestive tract, <italic>T. brucei</italic> must first migrate to the ectoperitrophic space, establish a persistent infection of the midgut and then migrate to the salivary glands before being transmitted to a new mammalian host. In 2010, it was shown that insect stages of the parasite (procyclic forms) exhibit social motility (SoMo) when cultured on a semi-solid surface, and it was postulated that this behaviour might reflect a migration step in the tsetse fly. Now, almost 5 years after the initial report, several new publications shed some light on the biological function of SoMo and provide insights into the underlying signalling pathways.</p> </sec> </abstract>