Housekeeping by Leishmania.
The observation that differentiation of parasite life cycle stages involves structural and functional reorganisation is very familiar. A recent paper by Besteiro and colleagues provides an intriguing insight into cellular remodelling during differentiation. They show that it is essential for Leishmania to tidy up and put the house in order before it can differentiate to mammal-infective stages.
Bates
Paul A
PA
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool L3 5QA, UK. pbates@liverpool.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D001343:Autophagy; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D007891:Leishmania / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008247:Lysosomes; D014774:Virulence