title: Carbohydrate involvement in the association of a prokaryotic cell with Trichomonas vaginalis and Tritrichomonas foetus.
abstract: Previous studies have shown that Trichomonas vaginalis are capable of ingesting bacteria. This observation was confirmed in the present study and extended to Tritrichomonas foetus. Using a special strain of Escherichia coli grown under conditions that produced fimbriae presenting a lectin-like molecule recognizing mannose, we showed that the bacteria attached to and were ingested by trichomonads through a mechanism involving cell-to-cell recognition. Absence of the fimbriae or addition of alpha-methyl-D-mannoside to the interaction medium blocked attachment of the bacteria to the protozoa cell surface. Ingested bacteria were later digested within the cytoplasmic vacuole.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federaldo Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benchimol
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: de Souza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000502:physiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial; D037102:Lectins; D008358:Mannose; D008766:Methylmannosides / Q000494:pharmacology; D016624:Negative Staining; D014246:Trichomonas vaginalis / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016835:Tritrichomonas foetus / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015003:Yeasts / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002241:Carbohydrates; D037102:Lectins; D008766:Methylmannosides; C008466:methylmannoside; D008358:Mannose