T. brucei
| Trypanosoma brucei | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Trypanosoma brucei brucei TREU667 (Bloodstream form, phase contrast picture. Black bar indicates 10 µm.) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| (unranked): | Excavata |
| Phylum: | Euglenozoa |
| Class: | Kinetoplastea |
| Order: | Trypanosomatida |
| Genus: | Trypanosoma |
| Species: | T. brucei |
| Binomial name | |
|
Trypanosoma brucei Plimmer & Bradford, 1899 |
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| Subspecies | |
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T. b. brucei |
|
T. b. brucei
T. b. gambiense
T. b. rhodesiense
Trypanosoma brucei is a species of parasitic kinetoplastid belonging to the genus Trypanosoma. The parasite is the cause of a vector-borne disease of vertebrate animals, including humans, carried by genera of tsetse fly in sub-Saharan Africa. In humans T. brucei causes African trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness. In animals it causes animal trypanosomiasis, also called nagana in cattle and horses. T. brucei has traditionally been grouped into three subspecies: T. b. brucei, T. b. gambiense and T. b. rhodesiense. The first is a parasite of non-human vertebrates, while the latter two are the known parasites of humans. Only rarely can the T. b. brucei infect a human.
T. brucei is transmitted between mammal hosts by an insect vector belonging to different species of tsetse fly (Glossina). Transmission occurs by biting during the insect's blood meal. The parasites undergo complex morphological changes as they move between insect and mammal over the course of their life cycle. The mammalian bloodstream forms are notable for their cell surface proteins, variant surface glycoproteins, which undergo remarkable antigenic variation, enabling persistent evasion of host adaptive immunity leading to chronic infection. T. brucei is one of only a few pathogens known to cross the blood brain barrier. There is an urgent need for the development of new drug therapies, as current treatments can prove fatal to the patient.
Whilst not historically regarded as T. brucei subspecies due to their different means of transmission, clinical presentation, and loss of kinetoplast DNA, genetic analyses reveal that T. equiperdum and T. evansi are evolved from parasites very similar to T. b. brucei, and are thought to be members of the brucei clade.
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