In immunocompromised hosts, latent infection with Toxoplasma gondii can reactivate from tissue cysts, leading to encephalitis. A characteristic of T. gondii bradyzoites in tissue cysts is the presence of amylopectin granules. The regulatory mechanisms and role of amylopectin accumulation in this organism are not fully understood. The T. gondii genome encodes a putative glycogen phosphorylase (T...

Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite of mammals, was first identified over 100 years ago (in 1908) by Nicolle and Manceaux, who isolated tachyzoites from the gundi, a North African rodent (34). Splendore also identified this parasite in the tissue of a rabbit in 1908 (46). The genus Toxoplasma was named for its bow-like shape (from the Greek “toxo,” for bow or arc, and “plasma,” for crea...

The Apicomplexa is a large phylum of intracellular parasitic protozoa with more than 6000 species that present set invasion organelles organized in an apical complex (Adl et al., 2007). It estimated every metazoan can be infected by at least one from this group (Morrison, 2009), indicating their diversity and adaptation to the lifestyle. Most what we know about based on study subset parasites m...