Factors affecting locomotor plasticity in Rhodnius prolixus.

Triatomines are vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. Their locomotor activity is influenced by endogenous and exogenous factors, but whether individual behavioral profiles persist across developmental stages remains unclear. This study evaluated non-oriented locomotor activity in Rhodnius prolixus under varying nutritional states (short-fasting, long-fasting, fed), developmental stages (5th instar nymphs and adults), sex (males and females), and light phase (photophase vs.

Revisiting the development of Trypanosoma rangeli in the vertebrate host.

Background: Trypanosoma rangeli is a haemoflagellate parasite that infects triatomine bugs and mammals in South and Central America. Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, has a partially overlapping geographical distribution with T. rangeli, that leads to mixed human infections and cross-reactivity in immunodiagnosis.

infection impairs reproductive success of .

is a protozoan that infects triatomines and mammals in Central and South America. Although it does not cause disease to humans, this parasite produces different levels of pathogenicity to its invertebrate host, mainly in species of the genus . In this study, we followed -infected and uninfected pairs throughout their adult lives and measured the amount of blood ingested, number of eggs laid, number of eggs hatched and proportion of infertile eggs, as well as female life expectancy.

A fat body transcriptome analysis of the immune responses of Rhodnius prolixus to artificial infections with bacteria.

Background: Rhodnius prolixus is an important vector of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causal agent of Chagas disease in humans. Despite the medical importance of this and other triatomine vectors, the study of their immune responses has been limited to a few molecular pathways and processes. Insect immunity studies were first described for holometabolous insects such as Drosophila melanogaster, and it was assumed that their immune responses were conserved in all insects.

Trypanosoma cruzi-infected Rhodnius prolixus endure increased predation facilitating parasite transmission to mammal hosts.

Triatomine bugs aggregate with conspecifics inside shelters during daylight hours. At dusk, they leave their refuges searching for hosts on which to blood feed. After finding a host, triatomines face the threat of being killed, because hosts often prey on them.

New features on the survival of human-infective Trypanosoma rangeli in a murine model: Parasite accumulation is observed in lymphoid organs.

Trypanosoma rangeli is a non-pathogenic protozoan parasite that infects mammals, including humans, in Chagas disease-endemic areas of South and Central America. The parasite is transmitted to a mammalian host when an infected triatomine injects metacyclic trypomastigotes into the host's skin during a bloodmeal. Infected mammals behave as parasite reservoirs for several months and despite intensive research, some major aspects of T.

The Influence of Environmental Cues on the Development of in Triatominae Vector.

, a hemoflagellate parasite, is the etiological agent of Chagas disease that affects about 6-7 million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America. The parasite life cycle is complex and alternates between an invertebrate host-Triatominae vector-and a mammalian host. The parasite adaptation to the several microenvironments through which it transits is critical to success in establishing infection.

Co-existing locomotory activity and gene expression profiles in a kissing-bug vector of Chagas disease.

The triatomine bug Rhodnius prolixus is a main vector of Chagas disease, which affects several million people in Latin-America. These nocturnal insects spend most of their locomotory activity during the first hours of the scotophase searching for suitable hosts. In this study we used multivariate analysis to characterize spontaneous locomotory activity profiles presented by 5th instar nymphs.

Knockout of the CCCH zinc finger protein TcZC3H31 blocks Trypanosoma cruzi differentiation into the infective metacyclic form.

In the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi - the causative agent of Chagas disease - gene expression control is mainly post-transcriptional, where RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play a central role, by controlling mRNA stability, distribution and translation. A large variety of RBPs are encoded in the T. cruzi genome, including the CCCH-type zinc finger (CCCH ZnF) protein family, which is characterized by the presence of the C-X-C-X-C-X-H (CCCH) motif.

Catalase expression impairs oxidative stress-mediated signalling in Trypanosoma cruzi.

Trypanosoma cruzi is exposed to oxidative stresses during its life cycle, and amongst the strategies employed by this parasite to deal with these situations sits a peculiar trypanothione-dependent antioxidant system. Remarkably, T. cruzi's antioxidant repertoire does not include catalase.

Recently differentiated epimastigotes from Trypanosoma cruzi are infective to the mammalian host.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, has a complex life cycle in which four distinct developmental forms alternate between the insect vector and the mammalian host. It is assumed that replicating epimastigotes present in the insect gut are not infective to mammalian host, a paradigm corroborated by the widely acknowledged fact that only this stage is susceptible to the complement system. In the present work, we establish a T.

Triatomine physiology in the context of trypanosome infection.

Triatomines are hematophagous insects that feed on the blood of vertebrates from different taxa, but can occasionally also take fluids from invertebrate hosts, including other insects. During the blood ingestion process, these insects can acquire diverse parasites that can later be transmitted to susceptible vertebrates if they complete their development inside bugs. Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, and Trypanosoma rangeli are protozoan parasites transmitted by triatomines, the latter only transmitted by Rhodnius spp.

Colonization of Rhodnius prolixus gut by Trypanosoma cruzi involves an extensive parasite killing.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, is ingested by triatomines during their bloodmeal on an infected mammal. Aiming to investigate the development and differentiation of T. cruzi inside the intestinal tract of Rhodnius prolixus at the beginning of infection we fed insects with cultured epimastigotes and blood trypomastigotes from infected mice to determine the amount of recovered parasites after ingestion.

Revisiting Trypanosoma rangeli Transmission Involving Susceptible and Non-Susceptible Hosts.

Trypanosoma rangeli infects several triatomine and mammal species in South America. Its transmission is known to occur when a healthy insect feeds on an infected mammal or when an infected insect bites a healthy mammal. In the present study we evaluated the classic way of T.

Trypanosomes Modify the Behavior of Their Insect Hosts: Effects on Locomotion and on the Expression of a Related Gene.

Background: As a result of evolution, the biology of triatomines must have been significantly adapted to accommodate trypanosome infection in a complex network of vector-vertebrate-parasite interactions. Arthropod-borne parasites have probably developed mechanisms, largely still unknown, to exploit the vector-vertebrate host interactions to ensure their transmission to suitable hosts. Triatomines exhibit a strong negative phototaxis and nocturnal activity, believed to be important for insect survival against its predators.

Effects of infection by Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli on the reproductive performance of the vector Rhodnius prolixus.

The insect Rhodnius prolixus is responsible for the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, which is the etiological agent of Chagas disease in areas of Central and South America. Besides this, it can be infected by other trypanosomes such as Trypanosoma rangeli. The effects of these parasites on vectors are poorly understood and are often controversial so here we focussed on possible negative effects of these parasites on the reproductive performance of R.