Social motility in African trypanosomes: fact or model?

Philippe Bastin; Brice Rotureau

doi:10.1016/j.pt.2014.12.007

Social motility in African trypanosomes: fact or model?

Trends Parasitol. 2015 Feb;31(2):37-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2014.12.007. Epub 2015 Jan 8.

Authors

Philippe Bastin¹, Brice Rotureau²

Affiliations

¹ Trypanosome Cell Biology Unit, Institut Pasteur and CNRS URA 2581, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France.
² Trypanosome Cell Biology Unit, Institut Pasteur and CNRS URA 2581, 25 rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 25577311
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2014.12.007

Abstract

African trypanosomes grown on agarose plates exhibit behaviours akin to social motility. This phenomenon has not been observed in vivo so far but recently turned out to be instrumental in the definition of two specific stages of the parasite cycle and as a tool to probe for trypanosome sensing functions.

Keywords: Trypanosoma; cell interactions; model; sensing; social motility; tsetse fly.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cell Communication
Life Cycle Stages
Locomotion / physiology*
Models, Biological
Trypanosoma / physiology*