Major surface glycoproteins of insect forms of Trypanosoma brucei are not essential for cyclical transmission by tsetse.
Procyclic forms of Trypanosoma brucei reside in the midgut of tsetse flies where they are covered by several million copies of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins known as procyclins. It has been proposed that procyclins protect parasites against proteases and/or participate in tropism, directing them from the midgut to the salivary glands. There are four different procyclin genes, each subject to elaborate levels of regulation. To determine if procyclins are essential for survival and transmission of T. brucei, all four genes were deleted and parasite fitness was compared in vitro and in vivo. When co-cultured in vitro, the null mutant and wild type trypanosomes (tagged with cyan fluorescent protein) maintained a near-constant equilibrium. In contrast, when flies were infected with the same mixture, the null mutant was rapidly overgrown in the midgut, reflecting a reduction in fitness in vivo. Although the null mutant is patently defective in competition with procyclin-positive parasites, on its own it can complete the life cycle and generate infectious metacyclic forms. The procyclic form of T. brucei thus differs strikingly from the bloodstream form, which does not tolerate any perturbation of its variant surface glycoprotein coat, and from other parasites such as Plasmodium berghei, which requires the circumsporozoite protein for successful transmission to a new host.
Vassella
Erik
E
Institut für Zellbiologie, Universität Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Oberle
Michael
M
Urwyler
Simon
S
Renggli
Christina Kunz
CK
Studer
Erwin
E
Hemphill
Andrew
A
Fragoso
Cristina
C
Bütikofer
Peter
P
Brun
Reto
R
Roditi
Isabel
I
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014346:Trypanosoma brucei brucei / Q000737:chemistry*; D014353:Trypanosomiasis, African / Q000635:transmission*; D014370:Tsetse Flies / Q000469:parasitology*
D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C053277:procyclic acidic repetitive protein, Trypanosoma