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1rypanosoma
Trypanosoma sp. among red blood cells.
Scientific classification
omain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Excavata
Phylum: Euglenozoa
Class: Kinetoplastida
Order: Trypanosomatida
Genus: 1rypanosoma
Gruby, 1843
This article is about the genus Trypanosoma, for the specific human pathogens
Trypanosoma is a genus of kinetoplastids (class Kinetoplastida), a monophyletic group
of unicellular parasitic flagellate protozoa. The name is derived from
the Greek trypano (borer) andsoma (body) because of their corkscrew-like motion. All
trypanosomes are heteroxenous (requiring more than one obligatory host to complete
life cycle) and are transmitted via a vector. The majority of species are transmitted by
blood-feeding invertebrates, but there are different mechanisms among the varying
species. Then in the invertebrate host they are generally found in the intestineand
normally occupy the bloodstream or an intracellular environment in the mammalian host.
Trypanosomes infect a variety of hosts and cause various diseases, including the fatal
human diseases sleeping sickness, caused by Trypanosoma brucei, and Chagas
disease, caused byTrypanosoma cruzi.
The mitochondrial genome of the Trypanosoma, as well as of other kinetoplastids,
known as thekinetoplast, is made up of a highly complex series of catenated circles and
minicircles and requires a cohort of proteins for organisation during cell division.
Selected species
Species of Trypanosoma include the following:
T. ambystomae in amphibians
T. antiquus Extinct (Fossil in Eocene amber)
T. avium, which causes trypanosomiasis in birds
T. boissoni, in elasmobranch
T. brucei, which causes sleeping sickness in humans and nagana in cattle
T. cruzi, which causes Chagas disease in humans
T. congolense, which causes nagana in ruminant livestock, horses and a wide range
of wildlife
T. equinum, in South American horses, transmitted via Tabanidae,
T. equiperdum, which causes dourine or covering sickness in horses and
other Equidae
T. evansi, which causes one form of the disease surra in certain animals (a single
case report of human infection in 2005 in ndia
[2]
was successfully treated
with suramin
[3]
)
T. everetti, in birds
T. hosei in amphibians
T. levisi, in rats
T. melophagium, in sheep, transmitted via Melophagus ovinus
T. paddae, in birds
T. parroti, in amphibians
T. percae, in the species Perca fluviatilis
T. rangeli, believed to be nonpathogenic to humans
T. rotatorium, in amphibians
T. rugosae, in amphibians
T. sergenti, in amphibians
T. simiae, which causes nagana in pigs. ts main reservoirs are warthogs and bush
pigs
T. sinipercae, in fishes
T. suis, which causes a different form of surra
T. theileri, a large trypanosome infecting ruminants
T. triglae, in marine teleosts
T. vivax, which causes the disease nagana, mainly in West Africa, although it has
spread to South America
Hosts, life cycle and morphologies
The six main morphologies of trypanosomatids.
As trypanosomes progress through their life cycle they undergo a series of
morphological changes as is typical of trypanosomatids. The life cycle often consists of
the trypomastigote form in the vertibrate host and the trypomastigote
or promastigote form in the gut of the invertebrate host. ntracellular lifecycle stages are
normally found in the amastigote form. The trypomastigote morphology is unique to
species in the genus Trypanosoma.
ey facts
O $leeping sickness occurs only in 36 sub-$aharan AIrica countries where there are tsetse Ilies that can transmit the
disease.
O The people most exposed to the tsetse Ily and thereIore the disease are in rural populations dependent on agriculture,
Iishing, animal husbandry or hunting.
O Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (T.b.g.) accounts Ior 95 oI reported cases oI sleeping sickness.
O AIter continued control eIIorts, the number oI cases reported in 2009 has dropped below
10 000 Ior Iirst time in 50 years.
O iagnosis and treatment oI the disease is complex and requires speciIically skilled staII.